For the Sake of Revenge
by The Silent Scream
Summary: Disturbing nightmares keep Willow up at night, and it doesn't take the gang long to realize that there's a deeper meaning behind them. Still, none of them are prepared for the new challenge awaiting them... Willow / OC - Rating for violence and cursing
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: And here we go with the new story I promised in the last chapter of my previous one. Kinda scary how those fics took a life of their own, but one must listen to the muse, right? Feedback is highly appreciated!

Disclaimer: Characters appearing from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer are not mine, but property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy etc etc. The name "For the Sake of Revenge" is credited to the amazing band Sonata Arctica, anyone who's into power metal with a touch of progressive should check them out!

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><p><span>For the Sake of Revenge<span>

_She was alone and cold and it was dark a__nd she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten here, no idea if she was in danger, but her heart hammered in her chest with fear as she stared into the darkness as hard as she could, eager to see something, anything. _

_Far away, she could hear something drip steadily, the only noise she could make out, between the hammering of her own heart in her ears and the rushing of her blood, then, the dripping was joined by shuffling, somehow wet footsteps, and her dread rose to new heights as she realized that they were approaching her, that _something_ was approaching her in the darkness, she instinctively knew it was evil, and she couldn't get away, she was trapped, alone, alone in the dark, trapped and the footsteps were coming closer and closer and then someone was grabbing her, holding her, and a voice called out her name, and she realized she was screaming…_

…was screaming when her eyes flew open, her frightened gaze meeting the worried one of her girlfriend, her heart still beating up to her throat.

"Hush, Sweetie, it's okay, just a bad dream", she heard Pat mumble soothingly, briefly closing her eyes when she was pulled into a comforting embrace; even though the dream was already fading, she still was scared out of her mind, and thus clung to her loved one after a few seconds, a shuddery breath escaping her.

Still making soothing noises, the taller woman rubbed her back as she held her close; after another two minutes, Willow finally had calmed down enough to lighten her grip on her girlfriend a bit, her heart still beating faster than normal when she slowly laid back down.

"That must've been one Hell of a bad dream", Pat mumbled, moving one hand to caress her hair; shivering at the few memories she still had of said dream, Willow nodded, snuggling closer to the taller woman when she laid back down next to her, her voice trembling just enough to let her notice when she replied. "It was… Sorry for waking you up…"

"Never mind that", Pat shrugged it off, "want to tell me about that nightmare?"

"I don't remember much anymore", the redhead gave back, her heartbeat slowly calming down as her girlfriend gave her best to soothe her, "can't say I'm not glad about that though, what I do remember is… Well, I guess it doesn't sound so scary now, but I was all alone and it was dark, I mean really dark, not-able-to-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-eyes-dark, and… something was moving towards me, I have no idea what it was, but it was scaring me, a lot…"

"I wonder where that came from", Pat muttered after thinking about this for a while, long enough to make Willow wonder if she actually had fallen asleep again, but saying those words before the witch had had the chance to say her name and find out.

"What do you mean?" she thus asked instead, shifting a bit afterwards to make herself more comfortable in her girlfriends embrace, her heartbeat now back to normal, the closeness and tenderness between the black haired woman and her calming her down considerably.

"Well, they say dreams come from your subconscious, whoever they are", Pat shrugged in reply, "so I wonder where that came from. Some big test coming up or something?"

"No", the witch immediately gave back, knowing the dates for any upcoming tests and exams by heart, "not for another six weeks, and it's not one that freaks me out, so…"

"Hm", the demon made in reply, letting out a yawn before speaking on, now sounding curious. "Did you ever have prophetic dreams before?"

"What?" Willow gave back, surprised, "no… That's Buffy's domain, part of the Slayer package. You think it was one?"

"I hope not", the black haired woman grimaced in reply, something the witch could see quite well, her eyes by now having adjusted to the darkness in the bedroom – a darkness which wasn't really dark, compared to the one in her dream, she thought to herself.

"Because if it was, it'd mean that I screwed up royally", the demon now went on, gaining the redhead's attention again, "or I would've been there with you to protect you from whatever it was you were scared of."

"It was dripping", Willow replied automatically, without thinking much about it, surprising herself with her own words the moment they left her mouth; she shook her head as if to clear it, then made herself smile at her girlfriend, hiding how uneasy she felt now that the possibility of a prophetic dream had been brought up, not liking the thought at all.

"Let's hope it doesn't come back", she added after a moment, yawning as well afterwards, "even though I have no nasty test tomorrow, I should get some more sleep, the first lecture is with that annoying guy I told you about, the one who never needs to breathe…"

"I'll cuddle with you to keep the bad dreams away", Pat offered in reply, making the redhead smile and nod; the couple shared a brief kiss, then both made themselves as comfortable as they could, Willow once more telling herself that it surely had been an ordinary nightmare and no prophetic thing at all before she finally drifted off into sleep again, slumbering peacefully through the rest of the night until her alarm clock tore her out of her much more harmless dreams early in the next morning.

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><p>By the time the shrill, annoying sound of the alarm clock woke her up, Willow had forgotten all about her unpleasant dream; the only thing she still remembered was how she had talked to her girlfriend afterwards, and even that had become a blur, wiped from her memory by the sleep which had followed.<p>

Since next to her, Pat was still fast asleep, there also was no chance to ask her if she still remembered, unless she'd wake her up; not wanting to do that though, not for something as silly as a bad dream, the redhead got out of bed as quiet as she could instead, making her way into the bathroom and reassuring herself that the door had been properly closed behind her before she undressed and stepped into the shower, soon relaxing beneath the hot water.

To her dismay, she couldn't enjoy the shower as long as she would've wanted to, knowing that she had to be at the campus in time for her early morning lecture; thus, she got done quicker than usual, finishing the rest of her morning hygiene rather fast as well before she moved back to the bedroom and got dressed, smiling at the sight of her loved one still slumbering and snoring softly.

Not wanting to leave without at least a small kiss, Willow bent down and planted a smack on the taller woman's cheek; to her amusement, Pat let out a low grunt in reply, didn't wake up though, the witch shaking her head to herself while she straightened up again and collected the stuff she'd need for her lectures that day, then left for the campus at last.

When she arrived there, most seats in the lecture hall were already taken, but to her happiness, Buffy had kept the one right next to her free; quickly, before the blonde might have to use her Slayer strength to make sure the seat really would remain free for her best friend, Willow hurried up the stairs and let herself fall into the seat, giving the smaller woman next to her a grateful look.

"Thanks for keeping that seat free for me", she also verbalized her gratitude once she had removed one of her books from the bag and had added her notebook and pen, "looks like the place is packed again…"

"Yeah", Buffy agreed, "and I wouldn't be able to bear that professor and his robotic talking without my best friend by my side. I'm just glad you arrived in time, I already thought I'd have to use some Slayer moves on the other students, in case you'd come here too late."

"As if I'd ever come too late", the redhead huffed in reply, making her best friend smile; after a moment, she smiled back, then the professor entered the hall and the lecture began, forcing both Buffy and Willow to focus on him, both women giving their best to keep up with his rapid, but monotone speech, both of them glad when the lecture finally ended an hour later.

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><p>After two more lectures, it was time for lunch, to the great relief of both Buffy and Willow – the redhead always had enjoyed it to learn new things and to sit in class, but the morning just had been too tiring, at first with Professor Roboman and then with the two other teachers, both of them seemingly incapable of speaking in any other way than a droning monotone, an unpleasant fact which had forced Buffy to pinch herself several times so she wouldn't fall asleep.<p>

"Please tell me the lectures after class will be held by more exciting people", the blonde sighed out while she stood in line with her friend; after quickly checking the schedule, Willow smiled and nodded, to the obvious relief of the Slayer, making her smile happily while she loaded food on her tray. To the relief of both of them, it didn't take them long to find a free table once they had gotten their lunch, the two making themselves comfortable and taking rather big bites of their food before Willow spoke up, keeping her voice low so no one around would hear her words. "Anything interesting happening during patrol lately?"

"Nope", Buffy replied at once, "just the usual stuff, vampires, demons and the like. It's almost a bit weird, actually, I mean, it's been a while since we've been busy with a Big Bad, right?"

"I guess so", Willow agreed, briefly wondering if the power-stealing girl they had dealt with two months ago could be counted as a Big Bad, then deciding against it, "but isn't that a good thing?"

"A few years ago, I would have agreed immediately", Buffy gave back, taking the time to wolf down a forkful of French fries before she went on, "but by now, I've been the Slayer long enough to know that usually, calm times mean nothing good."

"Well, I hope you're wrong this time", the witch stated after thinking about this for a moment, "but, unfortunately, I have to agree with you anyway, things always were calmer before something really bad happened."

"Unless during that mess with Amy and the red mist of doom", the Slayer thoughtfully replied, making Willow nod after a moment as she thought of how the influence of the powers Amy had later wielded had made the vampires and demons – her girlfriend, to her dismay, included – much more aggressive and wild than usual.

"Speaking of demons", Buffy now gained her attention again, "how's Pat doing? I haven't seen her since the last Scoobie meeting, for some reason, she hasn't gone on patrol with me lately."

"I didn't let her", Willow giggled in reply, causing the blonde to raise an eyebrow at her, "or, better said, I asked her not to. With all the new stuff we have to learn here now, I wanted her at home to cuddle with me once I'm done studying, but if you need help, she'll surely be glad to come along… I think by now, she's itching to beat something up anyway."

"Probably", Buffy smirked, making the redhead smile as well; by now, they both handled those more unpleasant side effects of Pat's demonic nature easily, something which had taken them some time to get used to, but had been aided considerably by the fact that, ever since her relationship with Willow had begun, the demon had used her powers strictly to help her and her friends.

"I'll ask her if she wants to go along again tonight, or tomorrow", Willow now offered, making Buffy nod; the two smiled at each other once more, then the redhead picked up her sandwich, but before she could take a bite of it, the sound of shuffling footsteps came up behind her, probably caused by some student too lazy to lift his feet properly, a noise she wouldn't have paid much attention to normally, but which sent shivers up and down her spine now, a brief memory flashing up in her mind of darkness and cold and fear…

"Willow?" the Slayer distracted her, the concern in the blonde's voice making the witch realize that she had zoned out for a while there, "are you okay? You've gone pale and you were kinda staring holes into the air."

"It's nothing", she replied at once, so quickly that it made Buffy raise an eyebrow again, "I just had this stupid nightmare last night, I don't even remember it anymore, but when some guy walked by now and kinda shuffled along, it made me think about it again… Sorry for zoning out on you."

"No problem", Buffy reassured her, giving her yet another smile; briefly, the witch smiled back, then they both focused on their food again, quickly getting done with their lunch before they made their way to the hall where the next lecture would be held, the weird reaction of the redhead to the shuffling footsteps soon forgotten as once more, they had to focus on their professors and the remaining classes of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

When Willow returned to the apartment she shared with her girlfriend after her final class of the day, she did as she had promised Buffy and asked the demon if she felt like going along on patrol again that night or the next one; without needing to think much about that, Pat immediately responded that she'd gladly do so the next night, not really surprising the redhead.

"I'm surprised you're not going with her tonight", she commented, making the taller woman smirk, her reply putting a smile on Willow's face as well.

"I helped Anya at the Magic Box all day with that delivery she's been waiting for, which means that I carried around the heavy boxes while she stood next to me, clipboard in hand, and gave handy advice", the black haired woman informed her girlfriend, "so no fighting for me tonight, thanks a lot. Unless someone decides to barge in here and attack us."

"It's been a while since that happened", the redhead remarked, making her girlfriend nod; briefly, they both fell silent as they thought about the last attack on their home, led by the evil priest who also had been responsible for giving Amy all that power and for the loss of Pat's left eye, then they simultaneously pushed those unpleasant thoughts aside, not wanting to dwell on those events anymore, even though the demon couldn't stop herself from briefly fingering the leather patch which covered her ruined eye.

As always when she noticed that particular gesture, Willow felt her heart grow heavy; she still regretted that she hadn't been able to do anything about the ruined eye, but all the spells she had been able to come up with had been useless, and after a while, she had given up on it with Pat's agreement, the demon reassuring her that she had gotten used to it by now anyway.

Giving her girlfriend a reassuring smile, the witch reached over the table they were sitting at and grasped her free hand; after a moment, the demon looked at her, to her relief smiling back at her before she changed the topic from assaults on their home to a more pleasant one by asking how her classes had been.

"They've been okay", Willow shrugged, then remembered the strange incident at lunch and thus spoke on, frowning to herself as she did so – she'd had nightmares before, like anyone else, terrible and gruesome ones, but they never had affected her as much as the dream from the previous night had.

"Something odd happened at lunch though", she thus stated, "someone was shuffling past behind me, and it made me think of that awful nightmare I had again…"

"Wow", Pat gave back in reply, raising an eyebrow, "that really must have been an awful dream then, normally, you don't think about them so much."

"I know", Willow gave back, smiling slightly again though, oddly touched by the fact that her girlfriend had noticed this, even though it shouldn't be something special anymore after the long time they had been together now, "but the strange thing is, I still don't remember much of it. Just that it was dark and cold and that I was scared out of my mind, but I have no idea of what."

"Poor you", her girlfriend still showed sympathy, despite the rather vague details, "but it was just a dream, Sweetie, so just try to forget it, alright? No need to sweat it over some junk your subconscious brought up while you were asleep."

"You're right", the witch agreed at once, smiling at the taller woman, "unless you say that to Buffy, that is, she's the one with the prophetic dreams and the visions."

Smirking, Pat nodded, then moved to demand a quick kiss from her girlfriend, a wish Willow gladly fulfilled her; afterwards, the redhead moved to the living room couch to go over her notes of the day once more while the demon made herself comfortable in her preferred armchair with the book she currently was reading, silence filling the room as they both concentrated on their activities and enjoyed the calm evening together.

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><p>Unlike the previous night, Pat's first thought when Willow's screams woke her up again wasn't "Attack" this time, but "Nightmare"; still she almost automatically reached for the weapon chest next to her side of the bed with one hand while she switched the lamp on her nightstand on with the other one, not really surprised to see the room empty, her heart still hammering up to her chest though when next to her, Willow let out another scream, the shockingly high level of fear and terror prompting the demon to wake her up quickly.<p>

"Willow", she thus stated, grabbing the shoulders of the smaller woman and hurriedly speaking on, hoping she was loud enough to get through to her, "Sweetie, you're dreaming again, wake up, it's just—"

All at once, the redhead's eyes flew open, filled with so much fear and panic that it made the demon's heart clench up; before she could say another word though, Willow let out another shriek – and lashed out, her fist catching the black haired woman at the jaw, not hard enough to send her tumbling off the bed, but still with enough force to hurt. The low sound of pain the demon let out in response seemed to be enough to tear the redhead out of her panic, since her eyes went wide as she recognized her girlfriend, a gasp coming from her before she hurriedly sat up.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" she cried out, her hand coming up to cover her mouth when Pat rubbed her jaw and grimaced in reply, "I didn't mean to… I'm sorry, Sweetie! Let me get you some ice or something…"

"I'm okay", the black haired woman hurriedly reassured her, grabbing her wrist before she could get out of bed, "no need for ice, really, you just startled me. It's not even hurting anymore."

"Thank God", the witch sighed in reply, giving her loved one another apologetic look afterwards, but at least settling back into her pillow and not looking as if she wanted to rush off into the kitchen any moment anymore, "I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean to… It was that dream, I thought…"

"You had that nightmare again", Pat stated matter-of-factly in reply, Willow's surprise about those words clearly showing on her face, making the taller woman smile slightly.

"You were screaming again", she then explained, her smile fading as she thought of those horrible, panicked screams, "just like yesterday night… Was it the same dream? Do you remember?"

"I think it was", the witch mumbled in reply, smiling weakly as well when in response, the demon pulled her into a tender and calming embrace, "it's fading so quickly, just like it did yesterday… But it was dark again, and cold… And… I think the footsteps were closer…"

"Maybe we should talk to Giles about that", Pat suggested after thinking about this for a minute, shrugging when she received another surprised look in reply.

"I don't know if you've had such recurring nightmares before we met", she then explained, "but I do know you didn't have any of those since we started living together, until now. And the same dream two nights in a row… You're a witch, and best friends with the Slayer, you should know this is hardly normal."

"You've got a point", Willow had to admit in reply, "I really should tell Giles about that… I'll drop by at his place tomorrow after class. Wanna meet me there?"

"Sure", the demon agreed, "but if it's alright with you, I'd rather pick you up at the campus, then we can go there together… If that's a prophetic dream, I'll do whatever I can to keep it from coming true."

This made the redhead smile, and she nodded while she snuggled up to her girlfriend, a content sigh escaping her when the taller woman started caressing her hair, her heartbeat slowly returning to its normal, healthier rate.

"I know", she mumbled once she had made herself comfortable in the demon's embrace, "you'll protect me of the darkness and that shuffling, dripping thing…"

"With my life", Pat reassured her solemnly, then bent down to kiss her; afterwards, she just kept holding her girlfriend close until she had drifted off into sleep again, making sure that no more nightmares would plague the redhead before she allowed herself to return into the land of dreams as well, both Willow and her slumbering peacefully through the rest of the night.

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><p>In the next day, Willow took the chance given by having lunch with Buffy to tell her about the recurring nightmare and about the fact that Pat would pick her up from campus so they could go to Giles' place together, also not failing to mention the demon's worry that it might be a prophetic dream; to her great dismay, the Slayer nodded her agreement to that after a moment, looking worried as well when she replied. "It could be, yeah… So I agree, you better talk to Giles about that, see if he has any ideas and if it might mean anything. Normally, I'm the one to get those pleasant dreams, but since you're a witch, and getting rather powerful by now, well…"<p>

Realizing that she was taking over Willow's role and that she was babbling, Buffy shut up, the witch smiling slightly at her in reply, sounding just as amused as she looked when she replied.

"Pat said almost the same thing", she then let the blonde know, "about me having prophetic dreams being nothing unusual because I'm a witch. I wonder if she'll have some too, seeing she's… Well, seeing her nature."

After correcting herself in the last moment, the redhead quickly looked around guiltily to make sure no one had heard her; once she could be sure nothing odd had been noticed by the people around, she focused on Buffy again, not surprised to see the Slayer was smiling slightly.

"Maybe she'll have one, too", the blonde then hazarded, "or she already did and forgot."

"If the dream was anything like mine, I doubt she'd be able to just forget it", Willow grimaced, the blonde having to admit that she was right after thinking about it for a moment; then, she shrugged it off and asked the redhead if she could borrow her notes later on to copy them, the topic of strange, scary dreams once more forgotten for the rest of the lectures.

[line]

Just as she had suggested, Pat was waiting for her girlfriend when the last lecture ended and the redhead left the building with Buffy by her side; as always when she was waiting for something, or someone, the demon was smoking a cigarette, throwing it to the ground and putting it out though when she saw Willow and Buffy approach.

Almost automatically, she started to smile while she approached the witch, then bent down to kiss her Hello, not caring who was seeing them; by now, it was quite well known across campus that the redhead was with the taller woman, only the few freshmen who had no idea about this gawking briefly. Some of those freshmen also stared at the eye patch quite openly, but clearly, none of them had the guts to come over and ask anything about it; thus, the three women just ignored them, the demon asking her girlfriend how the classes had been while they left the campus together and started their walk to Giles' home.

"Okay, I guess", the redhead shrugged, " or maybe even better, seeing that Buffy didn't fall asleep."

"Hey!" the Slayer protested while Pat let out a snort, "you make me sound as if I fall asleep all the time which is so not true. I'm awake more often than not!"

"Maybe lately", the redhead countered, "but just last week, I had to wake you up five times during one class!"

"That was after a particularly hard night of patrolling", Buffy defended herself, making Willow roll her eyes while Pat just listened in amusement, lighting up another cigarette before she grasped the witch's hand with her free one, not surprised when the Slayer changed the topic shortly afterwards, even though the topic Buffy chose did surprise her a bit. "So, have you been having any weird dreams too? Or just Willow?"

"If I had any, I don't remember them", Pat replied after a moment, making the witch smile since she had said exactly the same thing, her smile widening at what her girlfriend said next. "Which seems unlikely, because if they'd be like those dreams Willow's been having, I doubt I'd just forget them. I'd probably wake up screaming, like she does."

"You don't scream when you're in danger", the Slayer pointed out in reply, "you just growl. Or say bad words."

"Or both", Willow added, smiling while Pat just shrugged, then returned from her reaction to scary things – not that many things actually did scare her – to the topic Buffy had brought up. "To get back to the topic at hand, nope, no dreams for me. Just my lovely girlfriend here, waking me up with her lovely voice by screaming not so lovely screams."

"Okay", the blonde accepted this after a moment, "so it's just you then, Will… I have to say, I'm a bit glad it's not me with the prophetic dreams for once, especially if they make you scream. I'd wake up everyone in the dorm."

"You don't scream at danger, either", Willow reminded her as an answer, "you just make puns. Most of the time, you drown out Pat's growling with them."

"Never the bad words I usually say after the growling though", the demon smirked, rolling her good eye at her girlfriend's reply a second later.

"She does that on purpose so I can reprimand you afterwards", Willow giggled, making Buffy laugh as well while Pat just gave them another, not fully serious, annoyed look, smirking as well though after a moment, the good mood which had spread through the group remaining among them until they arrived at Giles' home.


	3. Chapter 3

Half an hour later, Willow was slightly annoyed while Pat and Buffy were impatient; the witch had explained her dream three times to the Watcher by now, at least as much of it as she could remember, but all he had done in reply had been to take off his glasses and clean them, briefly making her wonder if he'd rub the lenses away to nothingness some day.

"Well", he finally started to speak, the witch briefly relieved about the fact that he didn't ask her to tell him about the dream for a fourth time, "usually, Buffy's the one with the prophetic dreams, but since you've had the same dream two nights in a row, I dare to say it might be some sort of vision."

"I was hoping you would not say that", Pat grumbled, explaining herself when the elder man gave her a clueless look in reply. "If that dream's a vision, it means she'll end up alone, scared and in some cold, dark place some day. Maybe soon, hopefully not, preferred would be never, but if it happens, there'll be some shuffling thing in there with her, probably not there to give her a massage."

"Such dreams don't necessarily come true", Giles pointed out in reply, putting his glasses back on, "it might be a warning, or something which could be, but also could be avoided."

"So what can we do?" Buffy wanted to know in reply, "is there any way to find out what kind of vision it is? I mean, if it's the whole surely-gonna-happen-package or just a be-careful-and-you'll-be-fine kinda warning?"

"Not really, I'm afraid", Giles sighed out, shrugging when Pat gave him an annoyed glance in reply. "Well, I don't have much to work with", he then justified himself, "are you sure this is all you remember, Willow?"

"Yes", the redhead mumbled in reply, "and if it's possible, I don't want to remember more of it, I think I woke up screaming for a good reason, you know?"

"We'll just have to stick together, then, until we figured something out", Pat threw in before Giles could come up with a reply, "so whatever it is won't get her. I honestly doubt that this cold and dark place you were in was our apartment after a power outage, Honey."

With a grimace, Willow nodded her agreement, then sighed to herself as she had to admit to herself that this visit hadn't been very useful; Pat and her already had been rather sure that the dreams had been prophetic, and all Giles had done had been confirming it, without providing them with a solution though.

"I'll look into it, of course", the Watcher now promised her, distracting her from her thoughts, "and, Pat, you are right, you should stick together until we know more about this. I hate to say it, but Willow might be in considerable danger."

"I won't leave her side", the demon mumbled in reply, making the redhead smile at her briefly while she reached over to grasp the taller woman's hand, then focused on Giles again as she spoke up. "Would it help if I'd try to write down what I was seeing in the dream right after waking up? It fades away quickly even then, but maybe, if I manage to wake up enough to write fast enough…"

"It might help, yes", Giles let her know after thinking about this for a second, making the redhead smile slightly again; he returned the smile, then looked at Buffy, his voice and face serious again when he continued. "During classes, you should watch out for Willow, I doubt Pat can just waltz into the classes with her."

"Will do", the Slayer promised in reply, smiling at the witch, "and I'll kick the ass of anyone who might try to harm her."

"We don't even know if there is someone who will try that", Giles pointed out, "but it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Indeed", Willow agreed, Buffy clearly taking this is a signal that the talk was over since she rose from her seat; after a moment, the rest did the same, the Watcher letting them know that he'd call Xander and Anya to inform them about the new situation before he told them to be careful, then let them out, his concern for the redhead clearly showing on his features as he watched the three women walk away from his home.

* * *

><p>"I wonder if writing down those dreams will really help", Willow stated after she just had been walking along between Buffy and Pat in silence for a while, once more holding hands with her girlfriend, "or if it'll be useless."<p>

"Won't know until you tried", the demon shrugged in reply, lighting up a cigarette before she looked at the Slayer, sounding apologetic when she went on. "I know I said I'd go on patrol with you tonight, but, well…"

"It's okay", Buffy immediately reassured her, "I wouldn't want you to leave Willow alone anyway as long as we don't know what's going on. Plus, you'll need to wake her up in case she has that nightmare again."

"Yup", the demon agreed, "and don't react to what I'll say next, don't turn around or anything, but someone's following us."

"What?" Buffy hissed, barely able to keep herself from turning around and thus doing exactly what Pat had asked her not to do, "how do you know? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure", the black haired woman gave back, raising an eyebrow at her, "assassin, remember? Let's go into that alley up ahead and I'll handle it, I've got practice."

"Okay", Willow agreed at once, managing to sound surprisingly calm, even though her heart was racing; her sweaty palms gave her away though, something she noticed a second later as Pat gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, the taller woman's voice low when she spoke on. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. It's just one guy and I can handle that."

Bravely, the witch nodded, rounding the corner with the demon and the Slayer half a minute later; they took a few steps down said alley, then Pat stopped, gestured at them to be quiet and moved back to the corner, standing with her back pressed to the wall and an expression of high concentration on her face as she listened to the advancing footsteps.

For a second, Buffy had the time to wonder what would happen if the demon actually was wrong and would grab – or maybe even punch and injure – an innocent person now; before she could voice her doubts though, Pat suddenly tensed, then stepped around the corner with surprising speed, the squeal which followed a moment later making it clear that she had grabbed whoever had supposedly been following them. Another blink of an eye later, the demon was moving back into the alley, tightly gripping the shirt of the one she had grabbed, a small, slightly chubby man who was staring at her with wide eyes, an expression quickly mimicked by Buffy and Willow when they saw and recognized him.

"Jonathan?" they cried out in perfect unison, making him look at them, now appearing as if he'd pee his pants any moment; clearly surprised by this as well, Pat looked at her girlfriend, her voice as curious as her facial expression when she spoke up. "So you know this guy?"

"Yeah", Buffy was the one to reply, "he was one of Warren's little buddies, teaming up with him to be a pain in my ass at first and abandoning him when things went too far. I thought you went to Mexico, Jonathan?"

"I did", he squealed in a high voice, the sound making Pat raise an eyebrow; at the sight, he cleared his throat, then tried again, managing to sound a bit manlier this time. "I did… but I came back, there's danger…"

"We're in Sunnydale", Buffy pointed out, giving him an annoyed look, "there always is. I swear, if you came back to be a pain in the butt again… Why were you following us?"

"To warn you!" he squealed again, prompting Pat to think that her grip on him was cutting off his flow of air and making her let him go; clearing his throat again, he straightened his shirt with exaggerated care, then took a step away from the demon, giving her quite the uneasy look.

"There's trouble coming", he then said, moving another step farther away from the demon before he focused on Willow, "I can't tell which kind, I couldn't pick up that much, but…"

"Whatever it is, we'll handle it", Buffy interrupted him, "we don't need you for that. Come on guys, let's go." With those words, she turned around and marched off; after a moment of hesitation, Willow and Pat followed her, the witch stopping dead in her tracks seconds later though when Jonathan spoke up once more, for once sounding confident and as if he knew what he was talking about. "Having some bad dreams lately, Willow?"

* * *

><p>The moment the redhead stopped walking, both Pat and Buffy did too, turning to look at Jonathan with perfect unison; for a few seconds, they just kept staring at each other, then Willow took a step forward, successfully managing to keep the tremble out of her voice when she replied. "What are you talking about?"<p>

"You know what I'm talking about", he gave back, some of his confidence clearly fading though when Pat took a step towards him as well, responding by taking one backwards, away from her.

"Um", he then started, throwing the taller woman another uneasy look, "could you, maybe, I dunno, keep her away from me? She's kinda strong. And scary. And she only has one eye."

"And she's a demon", Buffy helpfully informed him while Pat frowned at him, clearly not liking the comment about her eye, "so if you're trying to pull Willow's leg here, or are up to some idiotic little scheme again, I'll just turn my back while she lets loose on you, okay? She happens to be very close to Willow, and is very protective of her."

"Demon?" Jonathan squeaked in reply, nearly jumping back this time, and making Buffy wonder if he actually had heard anything of the rest she had said; still she nodded, smiling sweetly at him, fighting down the urge to laugh when he once more looked as if he'd pee his pants any moment.

"Yup, demon, and one with a very short temper", Pat now grumbled, "so if you know anything about those dreams, spit it out before I lose it."

"Warren", Jonathan brought out in reply, Willow's reaction being immediate and shocking – her face paled drastically and she swayed on her feet, Pat hurriedly putting an arm around her to keep her from falling down. Worried, she looked at Buffy, then focused on her girlfriend again; even though the ground was rather dirty, she led the witch to the nearest wall and made her sit down there after spreading her jacket on the ground so it'd be a bit more comfortable, Jonathan watching all of this with an expression of uneasiness on his face again.

For a while, they all just remained like that, Buffy and Jonathan just standing there while Pat knelt next to Willow, who was leaning against the wall and breathing deeply, her girlfriend reassuringly holding her hand and looking at her in concern.

"What about Warren?" the redhead finally brought out, once she could be sure she wouldn't throw up or faint; clearing his throat, Jonathan shuffled his feet, looking down on them as he replied, now having a tremble in his voice as well. "I think he… he's kinda back. I'm not sure, I didn't pick up that much as I said, but… I'm pretty sure it's him…"

"How can he be back?" Buffy wanted to know while Willow paled again, once more feeling close to puking, prompting Pat to move her free hand to caress her hair, the tender touch making the witch look up at her girlfriend, the pained expression on her face causing the demon's heart to clench up.

"I don't know", Jonathan had to admit, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "but, well, I figured I'd warn you… I'm having those dreams too, you know…"

"And this is all you know?" Buffy demanded to know, glaring at the smaller man to make it clear she wouldn't take any crap from him; he nodded at once, then looked at Willow again, clearing his throat once more before he spoke on. "I'm sorry I had to tell you that, but I figured you should know…"

"It's fine", Willow mumbled, coming to her feet again with her girlfriend's help, "if you're right, we'll at least know what we'll be dealing with…"

"And we will deal with him", Pat reassured her, "don't worry. Even if he's back, he won't harm you, I won't let him."

"I know", Willow gave back, her voice still trembling slightly, "but… If I have to face him…"

"You'll see him for a second, then I'll burn him back to wherever he came from", Pat swore as an answer, the sound of Jonathan clearing his throat once more making both of them focus on him again afterwards, to his obvious dismay.

"Uh, well", he started, "just wanted to tell you that… I'm staying in that motel close to the bus station, I'm sure you know which one, just in case you need anything, or I'll call you if I find anything else, okay?"

"Yeah, sure", Buffy distractedly gave back, too focused on Willow and her reaction to those news to care much about him; he cleared his throat once more, then hurried off at last, clearly happy to get away from the group, not even looking back once.

"I better get you home", Pat said to Willow the moment Jonathan was out of earshot, "you look like you should be sitting down again."

Still feeling numb from this unexpected revelation, the witch just nodded; with another concerned look at her, Buffy bent down to pick up the demon's jacket and handed it to her, then told them to be careful and to call her if anything came up, making Pat nod before she started to lead the redhead back to the main street and on to their home, telling herself that they could talk about all this as soon as she was feeling a bit better.


	4. Chapter 4

"I always was afraid that this might happen", Willow stated almost an hour later, after she just had laid half on the couch, half on her girlfriend for a while, in the demon's tender embrace, getting all the comfort she could get from it.

"We are in Sunnydale after all", she went on when Pat didn't reply immediately, "so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he might be back… And wants to get revenge…"

"Well, he can try", Pat gave back, "then I'll kill him all over again."

"But maybe… I deserve it", the witch mumbled in reply, causing her girlfriend to sit up so fast that she nearly threw her off the couch, her voice full of incredulity when she replied. "What? Excuse my language, but that's a load of bullshit, what are you talking about?"

"I killed him!" Willow almost snapped in reply, with more force than she had intended, "did you forget that? I _skinned him alive_, just in case you don't remember."

"I do", the demon gave back, once more reminding her girlfriend of her not so human nature with what she said next. "He killed your girl first back then, so it's his own fault. An eye for an eye."

"And sooner or later, the world goes blind", Willow sighed, the expression on her face and the sound of her voice making her girlfriend move slightly on the couch so she was looking at her before she carefully took the witch's face into her hands, sounding much calmer and much more reassuring when she replied.

"Look", she stated, choosing her words carefully, "I can't imagine how hard this must have been for you, and I'm well aware of how much Tara meant to you… But you've got to stop blaming yourself for what you did to him. I know you'd make it undone if you could, but you can't, and if he's really back to take revenge on you, it'd only make things easier for him if you freeze up the moment you see him and can't defend yourself. And no matter what you might think right now, you don't deserve it that he harms you, or even kills you."

She fell silent, not sure if she had brought her point across; for a few more seconds, Willow just kept holding her gaze, then let out a watery breath, sounding as if she was close to tears when she replied. "I know you're right, my head knows, but my heart doesn't… And… I'm so scared…"

"I know", Pat gently reassured her, "and I promise I'll do whatever I can to protect you. I won't let him hurt you, he's got no right to do that, and you don't deserve it. Alright?"

It took the witch another minute to react, but when she finally did, she nodded, trying to swallow down her tears, her attempts ending up blown into pieces though when her loved one pulled her into a tender embrace.

With a harsh sob escaping her, she buried her face in the taller woman's shoulder, her crying only increasing when Pat tightened her embrace around her; for a while, she just sobbed into the black haired woman's shirt, letting out all the emotions which had pent up within her since Jonathan had made his dreadful revelation. Finally though, she managed to calm down again, pulling back a bit from the embrace so she could wipe her eyes; clearly concerned, Pat asked her if she felt better, smiling a bit when the redhead nodded in reply.

"It'll be okay", the demon then once more tried to reassure her, "don't worry, and don't be scared, you know I'll protect you… All of us will. He won't lay a finger on you."

"But what if he doesn't go after me?" Willow wanted to know in reply, her eyes widening and her heartbeat speeding up as that dreadful idea came to her mind. "What if he'll be after you, or Buffy? I couldn't take it to see any of you hurt…"

"Well, he can go after me if he wants", Pat shrugged, smiling at her, "then I'll fry his ass right back to where it came from. You know I'm hard to kill, and so is Buffy. No matter what he tries, it'll be okay."

"Sometimes, I wish I had your confidence", Willow sighed out in reply, making her girlfriend's smile turn into a smirk, relief filling the demon when her reply made the witch smile slightly as well. "My overgrown ego, you mean. Plus, it's easy to have that when you're able to heal pretty bad wounds."

"I guess so", the redhead had to admit, snuggling closer to her girlfriend again, her gaze fixed on the dark TV screen as an idea started to form in the back of her mind, "but it's good to know that your ego is big enough for both of us."

"And maybe for a third person, too", Pat suggested, smirking again when Willow giggled in reply; clearly feeling better, the redhead nodded, then leaned in to steal a kiss from her girlfriend, forcing herself to push all worries about Warren and what he might do to her or her loved ones aside, at least for the moment.

* * *

><p>Another two hours later, Pat had drifted into a light slumber on the couch next to her girlfriend, her head on the backrest, soft snores coming from her, the sound and sight being just too cute to let Willow resist the temptation of looking at her every now and then; each time her gaze fell on the taller woman, she smiled slightly to herself, then always forced herself to focus on the book in her lap again, a rather thick volume of spells and potions she had found in a second-hand bookshop a while ago, for a ridiculously low price.<p>

The idea which only had been a tiny spark of inspiration at the back of her mind when Pat had made her comment about having a big ego due to her healing abilities in her demonic form had grown much bigger during the last hour, which she had spent studying a certain spell; by now, she was quite sure that she'd be able to pull it off, but of course she'd have to talk to her girlfriend about it first, and find out if the demon would actually be fine with her idea. Careful to make not too much noise, since she didn't want to wake the taller woman up, she closed the book and put it on the table, figuring that she had found out everything she'd wanted to know; then, she got up from the seat and made her way into the kitchen, opening the fridge there and removing a nicely cooled can of soda from it.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, she opened the can and took a long gulp from it, her thoughts still circling around the spell and what it might accomplish, if she'd get it right; she'd rather not think about what might happen in case she'd mess it up, but knew that she'd have to face this possibility sooner or later – her spell casting abilities had increased a lot ever since she'd returned from England, but still something went wrong every now and then. With a shudder, she remembered the last time a spell hadn't worked out the way it had been intended to; when she had cast it, it had been supposed to increase the heat and strength of Pat's fire, something they had successfully done once before, but this time, with her doing the spell alone, it had ended with the black haired woman burping fire for almost two hours, to the great dismay of Willow and herself and the great amusement of the others.

Taking another sip of her soda, she tried not to think about that unpleasant event anymore; this only led to her thinking of Warren again though, another shudder running through her as she remembered how she had killed him, the ease with which she had flayed him alive – and how good it had felt to do this back then. Briefly, she wondered if Pat ever had felt the same way when she had killed a human, then decided against it – after all, her girlfriend had been an assassin before they had fallen in love and had started dating, and assassins hardly ever bore grudges against their victims.

Even though she tried to keep her thoughts away from the possible return of Warren and what he might do to her or her loved ones, she found herself unable to stop pondering this, getting so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear her girlfriend waking up and getting up in the living room, thus jumping, startled, when the taller woman joined her in the kitchen and said her name.

"Sorry", Pat hurriedly apologized when she saw that she had startled her loved one, "I didn't mean to scare you."

Shrugging it off, the redhead smiled bravely at the black haired woman, then moved over to her, her smile widening when immediately, she was pulled into a warm and tender embrace, Pat's voice down to a low mumble when she spoke on. "Been thinking about Warren?"

"Yeah", the witch sighed out in reply, "and I guess that's something I'll be doing a lot until this has been resolved…"

She let out another sigh, then smiled bravely as she looked up at her girlfriend, changing the topic to the spell she had busied herself with while Pat had been sound asleep on the couch.

"You know", she started, already wondering how her girlfriend might react to her idea, "when you said that thing about having an overgrown ego due to your healing abilities, I had an idea…"

"Do tell me", the demon gave back, the redhead choosing her words carefully as she spoke on, not wanting to get her idea across in a way that might end up offending the other woman somehow. "Well… You know, several years ago, Buffy got splattered with the blood of a demon and it transferred one of the demon's aspects to her. Unfortunately, that was the ability to hear the thoughts of everyone around her, and it nearly drove her insane, but of course we found out how to undo it and helped her. And, well, when you said that, I started to wonder if…"

"…if my healing could be transferred to others, too", Pat finished for her, to the redhead's relief smiling slightly. "And? Is it possible?" she then wanted to know, making Willow nod in reply.

"Not permanently", she then explained, "but temporarily, at least. I've been looking up a spell for that while you were asleep, and it's possible to transform your healing abilities to someone else for a short while, which might come in handy if one of us gets seriously hurt. There's a downside to it though…"

"Isn't there always?" Pat sighed in reply, clearly also thinking about the fire burping incident; Willow smiled briefly in reply, then shook her head.

"Not always", she gently corrected, "but, well, in this case, there is. You'll have to be fine with doing it, of course, or it won't work, plus… well…"

She trailed off, not sure how to tell her girlfriend about the negative effects the spell might have, her hesitation making the taller woman smile before she kindly demanded that the redhead told her.

"It'll undo any healing you did on yourself during the last twelve hours before the spell is cast", Willow finally sighed out, "or maybe even twenty-four hours, the book unfortunately wasn't all too clear on that. And, to make it even worse, you won't be able to do any healing afterwards, for a few hours…"

"Well", the demon gave back after thinking about this for a moment, "that is a downside, and quite a big one, but… We can still do it in case one of the gang needs it, as long as I won't die then, of course. But lately, I've been lucky, and didn't get my butt kicked too hard, so…"

"I won't cast the spell if it'd mean that some dreadful knife wound or something would reopen", Willow immediately reassured her, "but it's good to know you're fine with it…"

"I'm kinda surprised we didn't think of this earlier", Pat chuckled in reply, "and of course I'm fine with it, after all, it'll mean that I can help my friends, should it be necessary. We really should have thought of this earlier, you know."

"Well, it wasn't necessary lately", Willow pointed out in reply, "even though it would have been nice to heal my broken arm a month ago. Maybe we should try that spell once though, to make sure it'll work."

"Sure", the demon shrugged in reply, "we should ask Buffy, if she got some bruises during patrol, that'll be the perfect opportunity."

"Good idea", the witch agreed, "let's call her tomorrow, and ask. And now, let's look what we have in the fridge for dinner, I'm kinda hungry."

Nodding, Pat pulled back from the embrace and moved over to the fridge, doing just what her girlfriend had suggested; it didn't take them long to decide what they'd eat, the process of preparing and then eating dinner successfully distracting Willow from her thoughts about Warren and the danger he might be for her and for her loved ones.


	5. Chapter 5

In the next afternoon, the gang met in the Magic Box, after Willow had called Buffy and had told her about the spell she had found; since it wasn't exactly a harmless thing to do, the Slayer had suggested that Giles should be informed about it as well, and since Anya was working at the store, she had called Xander, making the gang complete.

"This spell might be quite useful, if it works", the Watcher had to admit after Willow once more had told them all what exactly she had come up with, "but I hope you know there are also some dangers to doing it. For once, as you said yourself, the re-opening of any wounds Pat might have healed, but did you also consider the fact that maybe, the spell might transform the… well, the fiery aspects of her, as well?"

"Of course", Willow gave back, a bit offended about the fact that Giles might think she would miss such a crucial point, "and that shouldn't happen, I can specify the spell so that only the healing abilities will be given to another person. You know I had to keep that in mind, after all, Pat needs to demon out to heal, and it wouldn't help much if we would have to do that, too."

"We should give it a try", Buffy decided before the Watcher could reply anything, "and see if it works, before we speculate any further. Pat, you didn't hurt yourself the last few days, right?"

"Nope", the demon shrugged, "at least nothing for which I had to demon out."

"Good", the Slayer smiled, then got up and moved to the training room in the back of the store; there, she found a dagger, making her way back to the table with the weapon, Giles letting out a sigh when he saw it before he told her that she shouldn't wound herself too badly.

"Of course I won't", she snorted, giving him an impatient look, "what do you think I am, silly? Willow, what do you need for the spell?"

In response, the redhead got out the list of ingredients she had written down, explaining that she'd have to ground them into a rough powder and that she'd need as much as Anya could spare, so she could take it along to the next big fight.

"You can take as much as you want, as long as you pay for it", the ex-demon smiled sweetly in reply, making Willow roll her eyes before she nodded; she handed the list to Anya, and while the woman moved away to get all the ingredients, the witch turned to her girlfriend and gave her a pleading look, smiling slightly when, with a sigh, Pat pulled out her wallet.

"Let's hope she won't rip me off", the demon then muttered while looking through the cash she carried with her; five minutes later, Anya returned with the stuff Willow needed and with a bill for it, smiling sweetly again while she handed said bill to Pat, the sum at the bottom of it making the black haired woman groan slightly.

"Don't I get a discount for helping you with that delivery?" she then demanded to know, grimacing at the ex-demon's reply.

"I already gave you one! Five percent off, see?" Anya claimed, pointing to said discount; giving up, Pat handed her the money, then stuffed her wallet into the back pocket of her pants again while Willow already looked over the ingredients, making sure Anya had brought everything before she moved to one of the shelves, getting the mortar and pestle she always used.

It didn't take her long to ground all the ingredients into the powder she'd use for the spell; when she was done, she carefully poured the rather rough stuff into the leather pouch she had brought along for this purpose, leaving some of it in the mortar though, to be used in the spell, then nodded at Buffy, taking in a deep breath before she told her that everything was ready. Steeling herself, the Slayer picked up the dagger in response, then grit her teeth as she pulled the blade over the palm of her hand; the sharp steel bit into the skin, quickly drawing blood, the blonde letting out a hiss while she put the dagger back down, then gave the witch an expectant look.

In response, she took in another deep breath, then told her girlfriend to grasp Buffy's other hand; the demon did so, the rest watching in breathless silence how Willow started chanting a second later, her voice rising as the – thankfully, Buffy thought, rather short – chant neared the final words; as she said the last syllables, she grasped the powder from the mortar and, after finishing the words, blew on it heartily, the rest of the gang jumping when in response, Pat's free hand flamed up and Buffy let out a wince, squeezing her eyes shut. With the rather unpleasant fleshy noises the gang had gotten used to by now, the cut slowly started to close, to everyone's amazement; it didn't take long until it was fully gone, and the second it had vanished, the flames which had been flickering from the demon's other hand stopped as well, prompting Pat to let go of Buffy, a shaky breath coming from her afterwards.

"Alright", she then stated, her girlfriend giving her a concerned look, "let's hope we won't have to do that often, okay? It's great that it works and everything, but it feels… odd."

"Tell me about it", Buffy mumbled, clenching her hand into a fist and studying it with wonder, "and how you can stand healing that way? It… itches. And feels weird."

"I got used to it?" Pat shrugged in reply, only to be distracted when all at once, Willow let out a squeal, the realization that her spell had worked just the way it had been intended to clearly coming with considerable delay.

"It worked!" the redhead now cried out, nearly jumping into her girlfriend's lap, making Buffy chuckle when the demon had to fight to keep her balance and avoid toppling over with her chair, "it really worked! Only, you'll have to stay away from anything flammable when we do it the next time because you flamed up, did you do that on purpose?"

"Nope", the black haired woman smirked, amused and touched by how happy Willow was about the spell working out so fine, "that just happened."

"I'm glad it didn't just happen close to the bookshelves", Giles commented dryly, raising his hands at the look Willow gave him in reply and hurriedly speaking on, "but of course it is good that the spell worked so splendidly."

"Yeah, now we don't need to worry anymore about getting hurt", Xander smirked, causing Pat to raise an eyebrow at him, her voice dry when she replied. "Remember how I said we shouldn't do that too often? It was two minutes ago, give or take."

"Well, luckily, we don't get badly hurt too often", Xander tried to justify his words, "and no one will expect you to give your healing for tiny cuts and bruises. Right, guys?"

"Actually, I hate having cuts and bruises", Anya shrugged, smiling innocently at the look she received from Pat in reply; before the demon could say something though, Willow stepped in, telling the ex-demon strictly that the spell surely would not be done for minor injuries, still feeling giddy about how well it had worked out, for the first time since they had met Jonathan again not thinking about Warren and the things he might do.

* * *

><p>To her dismay, Giles didn't leave her that peace for long, bringing her thoughts back to the man she had killed by addressing the dreams she had been having, making her grimace as she thought about them once more, her dismay clearly showing through her voice when she replied.<p>

"Jonathan said he's been having similar dreams, that's why he came here, to warn us", she let him know, "but who knows if he's telling the truth?"

"Well, he did look as if he was about to wet his pants", Pat pointed out in reply before Giles could say anything, "I don't think he would've been brave enough to lie."

"Yeah, but he's kind of a weasel", Buffy mumbled in reply, "and he has been working with Warren before he… got his gun."

She threw Willow an apologetic glance, knowing that the redhead was everything but comfortable with talking about those horrible moments; to her relief, Willow just gave her a weak smile in reply, then nodded, frowning to herself when she spoke up again. "He did, but didn't Andrew and he run off after I… well, you know…?"

"They did", Xander confirmed, "I believe they wanted to go to Mexico. I wonder if Jonathan brought Andrew back with him."

"God, I hope not", Buffy sighed, "one third of the Nerd Herd is bad enough, I don't need two thirds of them around. They just tend to get in the way while making up idiotic plans which never work out."

"Well, he did tell us where he is staying", Pat thought out loud in reply, "I can go there all stealthy and check out if it's true, and if he's alone. What does that Andrew guy look like?"

"About this tall", Buffy gave back, holding her hand over her head to show Andrew's height, "blonde hair I think… Kinda wimpy. Can someone look wimpy?"

"Andrew does", Xander confirmed, "and not just look like it, he is wimpy."

"So another guy who'll wet his pants when I grab him", Pat smirked, "good to know."

"What happened to stealthy?" Willow wanted to know in reply, the demon clearing her throat before she nodded, promising that she would be stealthy and wouldn't let them notice her.

"The advantages of having a friend who's been an assassin for two hundred years", Xander declared happily once the stealthiness issue had been settled, "you can send her to go and play Peeping Tom without anyone noticing."

"Yeah, lucky you", the demon commented dryly, then got up from her chair, prompting Willow to give her a surprised look. "You're going now?"

"Yup", she clarified, "I'm not going at night and leave you alone, that's way too dangerous at the moment. Plus, you'll be safe here, with Buffy and the others around and a training room full of weapons."

"Talking about the training room, we should go there", Giles threw in while Willow got up as well, telling her girlfriend to be careful and kissing her briefly, Pat reassuring her that she knew what she was doing and that she had, "to quote Xander, played Peeping Tom a million times" before she left, Willow looking after her for a few moments before she went to join Buffy and Giles in the training room, knowing that her girlfriend was right and that she shouldn't be alone, making herself comfortable at the wall while Buffy and Giles started their training, her thoughts never leaving her girlfriend for a second.

* * *

><p>It took almost three hours until Pat came back, and when she did, one look at her face was enough for the redhead to reassure her nothing dangerous or even remotely exciting had happened during that time – she looked bored out of her mind, shaking her head immediately when Buffy asked her if she had seen anything suspicious.<p>

"He's got a single room at that motel, just like he said", the demon then let her know, "so if someone's with him, they're either cuddling in that single bed or that person is sleeping on the floor. I only saw stuff for one person though, clothes and stuff I mean, so I guess it's safe to say he's alone. And he just sat on that grubby bed all the time, reading, I actually was close to nodding off a few times, that was way too boring."

"That's not very assassin-like", Xander pointed out, "don't you guys spend a lot of time doing just that?"

"I used to spend a lot of time doing that", Pat corrected him, "but usually, that was more exciting."

"Did you ever watch someone having sex?" Anya wanted to know in reply, the rest just staring at her while Pat raised an eyebrow, then shook her head, sounding amused when she answered the question. "No, I looked the other way when that stuff started happening. I'm not a Peeping Tom in the literal sense, you know."

"How boring", Anya sighed, the others giving her another disbelieving look before Buffy returned to talk about business, focusing on the demon again.

"So we can safely assume that he was honest", she stated, the black haired woman unnecessarily nodding since it hadn't really been a question, "now we just need to find out if he was right and if Warren really is back. How do we do that?"

With those words, she turned towards Giles, the Watcher looking a bit lost for a moment before he took off his glasses and shrugged, briefly looking at the redhead and giving her an apologetic glance, knowing his next words would make her uncomfortable. "Well, it depends. If he came back as a… demon, a locator spell should work just fine. If not, though…"

"What are the other options?" Pat wanted to know, grasping Willow's hand beneath the table and giving it a reassuring squeeze, a gesture unnoticed by the rest, but very appreciated by the witch. "A zombie? He'd be rather, um, well, stupid then. You know, all 'Braaaaiiiins' and stuff."

"Or a human", Giles pointed out, "even though, I have to admit, this is unlikely. I suppose we at first have to find out how he did come back."

"And how do we do that?" Buffy wanted to know, pouting when the Watcher shrugged in reply.

"I'll look into it", he then promised, "but I can't promise that there'll be much information, we still don't know all too much about this. After all, we're not even sure yet it really is Warren who is responsible for those dreams. Did you have one again the previous night, Willow?"

"Yes", the redhead sighed out in reply, "but it wasn't much different to the ones I had before. Darkness, coldness, and scared me. And that dripping sound and shuffling footsteps."

"For the third night in a row now", Pat added, "so we better find out quickly what's going on, or the neighbours will start complaining about the nightly screaming. Not to mention that this can't be healthy for my—"

Before she could finish the sentence, the large picture window of the shop burst as something was thrown through it, all of the gang jumping up from their seats out of reflex when the surprisingly small, round object which had destroyed the window came bouncing over the ground, towards them.

"What the—" Xander started, only to be cut off when Buffy and Pat snapped "Everybody, get down!" in perfect unison, the demon helping her girlfriend along with doing just that a second later by grabbing her around the waist, briefly lifting her off her feet as she turned her away from the thrown object, then forced her forward, causing her to end up on the ground beneath her and covering her just as the thing on the ground exploded, briefly turning the world of the Slayer and her friends into a chaotic mess of splintering wood, smoke and the cacophony of the explosion.


	6. Chapter 6

"Is everyone okay?" Buffy demanded to know between coughs as she came to her feet, pulling up her shirt to cover her nose and mouth – even though the bomb, or grenade or whatever it had been had exploded quite noisily and thoroughly, smoke was still billowing from it, making it hard for her to see anything, the fact that it smelled rather unpleasant not making it easier for her, either.

Through the smoke, she could see Xander and Anya coming to their feet, the ex-demon running both hands through her hair to remove the splinters from it; a few feet away, Pat was getting up as well, then helped Willow to her feet, both of them coughing while they stumbled outside, followed by Xander and Anya, Buffy taking the time to help Giles to his feet before she joined her friends on the sidewalk.

"I fucking hate smoke-bombs", Pat told no one in particular, still coughing, her good eye watering; for once not reprimanding her about the dirty language, Willow nodded her agreement, wiping at her runny eyes as well.

"It'll take days to get that smell out of the store!" Anya complained in response, looking at the still smoke-filled Magic Box with great dismay, "I won't be able to have any customers and I won't earn money! This is bad!"

"I'm more worried about who wanted to kill us with that thing", Buffy muttered in reply, surprised when Pat shook her head as an answer, coughing once more before she spoke up. "That thing wasn't thrown in there to kill us, not enough fire power in a smoke-bomb. Look, it didn't even ruin the table, just that chair it rolled closest to. I think that was some kind of a warning."

"Or a greeting", Willow tonelessly replied, the sound of her voice making everyone look at her with concern. "That's just… his thing, right?" she went on, looking on Buffy pleadingly, asking her to tell her that she was wrong, knowing it wouldn't happen. "He always had a thing for that kind of stuff…"

"He did", the Slayer had to agree, "but… It's not really solid proof, you know. It could be something… someone else."

"I don't think so", the redhead mumbled, almost instinctively moving closer to Pat, prompting her to put both arms around her, "it's him, I know it… I can feel it… He's back… Warren's back…"

* * *

><p>Jonathan had often been scared in his life so far, partly due to the fact that he wasn't exactly valiant, but also because Sunnydale couldn't really be called one of the safest places on the planet. He had been a bit better about getting scared when he had been part of the Trio, with Warren and Andrew, at least for a while; then, Warren had done his going-more-and-more-insane thing, and he had been scared more often again, mostly of him and the ideas he'd been coming up with.<p>

During all those many times of being scared, he somehow always had managed to retain at least a small part of his dignity, mostly by not wetting himself; this time, at the newest scare though, he couldn't even manage that, a small, breathless whimper escaping him while a dark spot started to spread on his pants, something he didn't even notice though, too focused on the woman holding him up against the wall, his feet dangling twenty centimetres above the dingy carpet, her one eye glaring at him angrily – and glowing red, for Heaven's sake – and smoke rising off her fists, making him cough and wheeze.

"Please don't hurt me", he then squealed, "please! I'll do whatever you want! What did I do? Why are you mad at me? I didn't do anything!"

"Well, you just nearly pissed on my shoes", Pat grumbled in reply, slamming him against the wall when he looked to Buffy for help, the Slayer just holding his gaze indifferently, not appearing as if she would come to his rescue any moment.

"Please don't hurt me", Jonathan focused on the woman holding him up against the wall again, nervously glancing at her hands, wondering if the smoke curling from them meant that she'd burst into flames any second, something he hoped she at least would do while she wasn't having his collar in a death grip. "I'll do whatever you want, really! What do you want me to do? Tell me and I'll do it!"

"You can tell us everything you know", the demon gave back, to his relief finally letting go of him, causing him to drop down on the carpet and making him look as if he tried to crawl into the wall when he attempted to scramble backwards, away from her.

"You're not just pretty sure that your psycho friend is back, right?" she added, frowning when he finally came to his feet again and moved away from her at last, keeping his back to the wall. "You _know_ he's back. Did you deliver that little smoke bomb?"

"Smoke…?" Jonathan gave back, then hurriedly shook his head, throwing Buffy another helpless look, the Slayer not reacting at all though, by now standing closer to the redheaded witch, having placed a comforting hand on her arm.

"I don't know what you're talking about", he tried reasoning with the angry woman in front of him once more, "at least about any smoke bombs… But you're right about the other thing, I mean, I knew he was back…"

"How?" Buffy demanded to know while, to Jonathan's great relief, the angry woman moved away from him and to Willow, carefully putting an arm around the witch since she had gone dreadfully pale again at his words.

"I… I met him", Jonathan admitted, "I mean, he came to me… he wanted my help…"

"And you did what?" Pat growled, causing him to let out a helpless little whimper, "agreed to help him?"

"No!" Jonathan immediately gave back, sounding so horrified that it just couldn't be a lie, "I… um, well, I ran way. He was scary. Scarier than you, and you just tried to kinda kill me."

"You have no idea how scary I can be, and you have no idea how it'll feel like when I'll try to kill you", the demon snapped in reply, making Jonathan squeal once more when she pulled back from Willow and the smoke finally did turn into flames, quickly spreading from her hands up her arms and over the rest of her body.

"Pat", Buffy sharply spoke up, "no flames here, there's a smoke alarm on the ceiling, you're gonna set it off."

"I didn't set it off so far", the demon grumbled, the flames to Jonathan's relief vanishing again though a moment later, her good eye still glowing brightly red though as she stared at him angrily.

"I ran away and came here", Jonathan now hurried to reassure her, before she could get the idea to grab him again and hold him up against the wall, or do even worse things, "to warn you…"

"Why didn't you tell the truth immediately?" Buffy demanded to know, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him as well now, to his obviously great dismay.

"I was scared", Jonathan mumbled in reply, shuffling his feet, "and with good reason, if I may say so!" he then added, pointing at Pat accusingly. "She's going crazy on me whenever she sees me!"

"Scared of what?" Buffy asked, ignoring his remark, "that we wouldn't believe you? Or that we'd kick your ass?"

"Both", Jonathan muttered, now stuffing his hands into the pockets of his pants. "You don't really have a reason to trust me, right?" he went on, shrugging at the look he received from all three in reply. "But I mean it, I'm not helping him. He freaked me out. He's even crazier now than he was before… um…"

"Before I killed him", Willow finished for him, making him nod after a moment, one of his hands coming up to scratch the back of his head sheepishly.

"He came to Andrew and me in Mexico", he then explained, "scaring the crap out of both of us. He didn't really explain how he came back, just said that he got his chance for revenge and that he wants our help…"

"And Andrew agreed to help him?" Buffy asked, a bit surprised, the feeling fading quickly though when Jonathan shook his head. "No… He just fainted. And I ran away. To here, to tell you…"

"What about the dreams?" Willow asked a question for the first time since they had gone to the motel room to confront Jonathan, "are you really having them? Or did you lie about that too?"

"He said he'd send them", the small man mumbled in reply, once more shuffling his feet, "to make you nervous… Put you off your guard… I don't know what else he's planning, but he wanted my help with that, he's not much good with magic…"

"Well, he is good enough to send her those dreams", Pat grumbled, once more looking as if she was just a hair's breadth away from grabbing him and tearing off his head, "so he obviously learned a bit, wherever he was after he died. Anything else you wanna tell us?"

"That's all I know", Jonathan hurriedly reassured her, "really… I ran away first chance I got, so I don't know what else he might plan…"

"Alright", Buffy let him off the hook at last, to his obvious relief, "well, just in case he decides to drop by here again, you let us know immediately. Got that?"

"Yes, yes", he reassured her, "I promise… Trust me, I don't want him around anymore, either. He's scary."

"I think you've said this before", Pat muttered, making him gulp when she looked at him; now appearing disgusted, she shook her head, then put an arm around Willow again and told her that they should get back home, the witch nodding after a moment, Buffy following them outside after giving Jonathan another warning glance, the small man letting himself fall down on the bed the moment the door had closed behind them, a heavy breath escaping him as he wiped sweat off his forehead with a trembling hand, asking himself why such things always had to happen to him.

* * *

><p>"Well, now we know for sure Warren is back", Pat stated half an hour later, back at their apartment, "so I guess we can start preparing ourselves… You got any other spells up your sleeve?"<p>

"Not really", Willow gave back, nervously running one hand through her hair, "and even if I did, I'm not sure I'd be able to use them against him… I killed him once already…"

"And I'll do it the second time, if he tries anything", the demon let her know, sitting down next to her and giving her a concerned look. "I know you're scared", she went on, taking a gentle hold of her hands, "but you're not thinking you deserve this anymore, right? You don't."

"I just don't want anyone to get hurt", the redhead brought out after a moment, once more feeling close to tears and hating herself for it, "but I'm afraid that this is just what will happen… He won't go after me right away, I know it, I can feel that, he'll try to go after my loved ones first… You… and Buffy, and the rest…"

"Well, as I said", Pat tried to calm her down, "he can come after me if he wants to, then I'll send him back to where he came from. And if he does as much as harm a hair on your head, I'll take my time to do that."

"Your demon-you is strong lately", Willow smiled weakly in reply, "at first you actually made poor Jonathan pee his pants, and now this."

"My demon-me tends to get stronger when some psycho guy is after my girlfriend", Pat shrugged in reply, "can't help it. I'm not freaking you out, am I?"

"Oh please", Willow gave back, shaking her head, "after all that time we've been together? I think it's kinda cute, actually, as long as I'm not on the receiving end of such threats."

"You'll never be", Pat reassured her, then suddenly perked up as another thought came to her mind. "Hey, now that you know where those dreams are coming from, maybe you can do something against them? Like, a protective spell to ward them off or something?"

"Well, I can try", the redhead agreed after a moment, "even though it'd be quite the shot in the dark, since I have no idea which spell he's using to send those dreams… There are like, thousands of them."

"Oh", the demon replied, not all too smart, making Willow giggle; feeling a bit better about the whole unpleasant situation, she snuggled closer to the taller woman, a content sigh escaping her when immediately, the demon wrapped both arms around her and held her close.

"Is it worth a try?" she asked once Willow had made herself comfortable in her embrace, "or would it be a waste of time?"

"I guess it's worth a try", the witch shrugged after a moment of thinking about it, "there shouldn't be any side effects in case it doesn't work, and if it does, I'll be rid of those horrible dreams."

"Let's give it a try then", the demon smirked in reply, "can I help?"

"In fact, you can", the witch smiled back, "you can burn the herbs for me, then I can focus on the spell fully and won't need to bother with the lighter."

"Okay", the black haired woman agreed at once, "just let me know when you want your stuff burned then." Nodding, Willow rose from her seat after carefully disentangling herself from her girlfriend's embrace, then made her way to the cupboard where she kept her supplies; after some pondering, she decided on which herbs to use, hoping that she'd chosen the right ones while she grabbed one of the earthen bowls she used for such spells, then made her way back to the table and sat down, Pat watching her in curious silence when she started to mumble under her breath, crumbling the herbs into the bowl.

After adding the last one, she went on mumbling for a while, then fell silent and nodded at her girlfriend; in response, Pat let her right hand flame up, then flicked her fingers at the bowl, a tiny ball of fire springing from them and landing in the middle of the herbs, causing them to vanish into nothingness with an audible _poof _and a – rather stinky, they both had to admit – cloud of yellowish smoke.

"Urgh", the demon grimaced, "can I open the window, or do you need that stink for something?"

"Go ahead and open it", Willow gave back at once, waving her hand in front of her face, "gosh, I had no idea that would smell so bad! Ew!"

Nodding her agreement to that, Pat got up from the couch and hurried to the window, almost tearing it open; she leaned outside to take a deep breath of relatively fresh air, and seconds later, Willow was next to her, doing the same.

"I'm sorry", she then giggled after a few moments, "I had no idea this would turn into a stink-bomb, really. Ack! What a smell!"

"Don't you ever complain about me again after I ate that yummy chilli", Pat smirked in reply, "this is like, a hundred times worse!"

"A thousand times worse", Willow corrected her, grimacing again; with her smirk widening, the demon nodded, then – at least in the redhead's opinion – added to the bad smell by lighting up a cigarette, blowing a cloud of blue smoke out of the window and watching it mingle with the yellowish fume the spell had produced.

"It'd be cool if it'd turn green", she then commented, the witch just smiling and nodding before she moved away from the window again, holding her breath as she made her way to the kitchen to get something to drink, hoping with all her heart that the bad smell her spell had left behind would be gone until they'd go to sleep – and that the magic would've had the desired effect, the witch craving a night of decent sleep without any horrible nightmares.


	7. Chapter 7

When she got torn out of her slumber again in the middle of the night, she realized that at least, the spell had worked – after all, what had woken her up this time had been her girlfriend's voice, lowly mumbling her name, and her hand on her shoulder, shaking her as gently as possible, and not her own screams tearing her out of a horrible dream.

"Huh…?" she muttered sleepily, forcing her eyes open and blinking sleepily at the taller woman, "wha…?"

"Don't freak out", the demon muttered, making sure to keep her voice low, "but someone's just broke our door open. I'll handle it, just stay right here, okay?"

"O-okay", the redhead brought out, her voice trembling at what she whispered next. "Warren…?"

"Don't think so", Pat reassured her in reply, "unless he brought someone along, it's two people. Or demons. Now, try to pretend to be asleep, okay?"

She quickly kissed the witch, then got out of bed, taking the time to quickly pull her shirt on before she moved to the door and stood beside it, her back against the wall, her ear pressed to it as she listened to the approaching footsteps. In the bed, Willow rolled over and closed her eyes, giving her best to appear asleep; still she flinched when she heard the door open, opening her eyes just wide enough so she could see the beam of the flashlight as it shone on the bed.

"The redhead's here", a male voice whispered, "but where's the—"

"Right here", Pat snarled, the flashlight moving wildly into her direction; moments later, it fell out of the man's hand as she punched him, the lens shattering as it landed on the ground, the room filling with darkness once more.

"You know what's the advantage of being a demon?" the demon quipped while she easily ducked a rather clumsy punch, then grabbed the man at the shoulders and jerked him down, simultaneously bringing up her knee so it met his face with a rather satisfying – at least, to her, for Willow, it was more nauseating – crunch, the guy letting out a nasal cry while he fell, clutching his face.

"Awesome night vision", she casually answered her own question, sidestepping the punch the second man tried to throw at her and grabbing his arm, using her grip on him to slam him up against the wall, her other hand coming up and closing around his throat, keeping him from moving.

"Plus, a lot of strength", she added, slamming the guy against the wall hard when he tried to struggle. "And, I suggest that, if you don't want me to use that strength for breaking every single bone in your body, you hold still now", she added conversationally, the man panting for a few moments in reply, staring at her – before his body went slack, only held up by the demon's grip on his throat and arm.

"Also, I suggest that you tell me what you're doing here", Pat went on while in the bed, Willow sat up and switched on the lamp, giving both men a glare, even though the one on the ground didn't really notice, still busy with groaning and clutching at his face, blood seeping out between his fingers.

"We're just burglars", the one the demon still had up against the wall tried to lie, shrinking visibly at the glare he received from both Pat and Willow in reply, the black haired woman's down to a low growl when she replied. "That's a lie, and you know it. You knew what we looked like when you came here, you're not just a burglar."

"Warren sent you, right?" Willow demanded to know before the guy could reply, the way he gulped being all the answer both Pat and she needed.

"He didn't want us to kill you!" the man then hurriedly claimed, trembling visibly when the demon looked at him with her good eye glowing brightly now, "seriously! Honest! He… he just told us to warn you… you, the redhead…"

"Spit it out then", Pat snapped in reply, tightening her grip on the man again when he once more tried to shrink into the wall at hearing the sound of her voice.

"He wants you to know that he really is back", the guy almost wailed in reply, focusing on Willow again despite the grip the demon still had on his throat, "and that he'll come for you… He wants me to tell you that he'll destroy you, like you destroyed him…"

"Is that all?" the witch asked in reply, sounding surprisingly calm despite what she just had been told; when the guy nodded in reply, as far as Pat's grip around his throat allowed him, she looked at her girlfriend, to the demon's visible surprise now sounding boring when she spoke on. "Throw 'em out then. I wanna go back to sleep."

"Um, okay", Pat agreed after a second, briefly wondering if this reaction was normal before she grabbed both men at the collar and dragged them down the hallway, the one whose face had met her knee still groaning and whimpering, the other one just looking scared, but managing to keep his companion upright when she pushed them both out on the hallway.

"Get back to your boss", she snarled, "and out of my sight, _now_, before I change my mind and kill you."

In response, the unharmed man grasped his wounded companion tighter, then hurried off with him; once she had made sure they wouldn't come back, Pat closed the door and locked it, glad to see that the lock still worked before she returned to the bedroom, still feeling angered about this intrusion into their home, this clearly showing through her voice when she spoke up as she re-entered the bedroom. "Can you believe the nerve of this guy? He just…"

She trailed off, then fell silent when she saw the look on her girlfriend's face; the eerie calm was gone, the witch looking as if she was close to bursting into tears any moments, her eyes glistening and her lower lip trembling as she looked up at the demon still standing in the doorway, dumbstruck by the unexpected sight.

"Hey", she finally regained her ability to speak, "don't… be all upset? It'll be okay, I won't let him hurt you…"

While she spoke, she moved over to the bed and sat down on it, pulling the redhead into a tender embrace; after a moment, Willow returned it, a shuddery breath escaping her as she fought down her tears, glad when she won the fight after a minute.

"I guess we should be glad we at least know for sure now", she mumbled as soon as she could be sure that she wouldn't start crying, "but, somehow, that makes it all worse…"

"It'll be okay", the demon repeated as an answer, not sure what else she could say, "now that we know, we can warn the others, and think about strategies and stuff. And never forget that I will not let him hurt you, no matter what he does or tries. Okay?"

"I know that", the redhead reassured her, "but you don't know him… How crazy he is. And how dangerous."

"Well, not to sound arrogant or anything", Pat shrugged, "but I have gone up against a few crazies in my time, and here I am, two hundred and forty one years old. You're right, being crazy makes them more dangerous than your average sane tar—I mean, person, but it also makes them reckless, and stupid. Thus, easier to kill."

"I hope you're right", Willow sighed out after thinking about this for another minute, smiling weakly when the black haired woman tenderly kissed the top of her head in reply, then nodded, her voice muffled by the smaller woman's hair when she spoke up again. "I know I am. Think you can get some sleep now, or should I make you some tea first or something?"

"Just hold me", the witch pleaded in reply, smiling a bit again when her loved one nodded at once; together, they laid back down, Pat pulling her into a tender embrace and holding her close, caressing her hair until she had drifted off into an uneasy sleep.#

* * *

><p>"Yeah, two guys", Willow confirmed early in the next morning; on the other end of the phone line, Buffy could barely believe her ears, trying to figure out how exactly Warren had managed to make two guys work for him, especially when that work involved breaking into the apartment of a powerful witch and her demon girlfriend.<p>

"One of them didn't talk much anymore after Pat had gotten done with him", said witch now continued, quickly realizing how wrong this have sounded and thus hurriedly clarifying her words, "but she didn't kill him, just kinda kneed him in the face. The other guy said that Warren didn't send them to hurt or kill us, but to warn us, tell us he's really back and that he'll come after me…"

"Surprise, surprise", Buffy commented dryly in reply, "but at least we know for sure now it's him. Now we'll also know for whom we have to keep our eyes open."

"I wonder what he'll look like", Willow mused out loud in reply. "If he'll be all… normal again, or if he'll walk around without… well, without skin."

"That'd be kinda icky", Buffy gave back, "and not exactly unobtrusive, so if he wants to come after you personally, it'd be rather… impractical. People would run screaming in all directions."

"Well, that would be good for us", Willow smiled, "then we'd know immediately when he's coming. I doubt Pat'll be worried either way though, she's pretty sure she can take him on easily."

"And I'll be right next to her and help her with that", the Slayer promised in reply, all at once sounding much more serious, even though she couldn't keep herself from smiling when she heard the demon's voice in the background, calling out "Damn straight!" to her girlfriend.

"All of us will be there", Buffy went on after she had waited for Willow to tell Pat that she had promised her help as well and the attention of the redhead had been returned to her, "we won't let you out of our sight until Warren's back where he belongs."

"I just hope no one will get hurt", the redhead sighed out in reply, "well, no one innocent and no one of us. Warren's the exception, of course."

"Of course", Buffy echoed agreement, then asked the redhead if she'd go to her classes despite everything, neither surprised when Willow told her she would without hesitation, nor when she heard low disagreeing mumbles coming from Pat.

"See you at class then", the Slayer smirked, knowing that no matter what the demon would say now, her best friend wouldn't miss them; they'd probably reason about this for a while – not argue though, in all the time they'd been together, they only had had a real argument once, to the surprise of everyone who knew Pat and her short temper –, then Willow would come up with the perfect reason why going to class would be perfectly safe and Pat would be forced to grudgingly give in.

"See you", the redhead now distracted her from her musings, "and take care."

"You too", Buffy gave back, then hung up; on her end of the line, Willow did the same, then turned around to face her girlfriend, not surprised when she saw that the taller woman was frowning.

"I know you don't like the idea of me going to class", she quickly spoke up before Pat could say anything, "but think of it this way, there'll be many, many people around, so it's unlikely Warren will try anything then. Plus, Buffy will be there with me the whole time, you know we share all of our classes today!"

"I know", the demon had to admit grudgingly, "but I'm still not comfortable with the thought. I also know though that, no matter what I'll say or do, you won't change your mind, not even if I'd go down on my knees and beg, so at least promise me you'll be careful, and please agree to my next suggestion, which is that I'll pick you up after your last class."

"Sure", the redhead agreed at once, glad when this made the frown vanish from her girlfriend's face, "you know I like it when you pick me up after class. No matter if some psycho is back from the dead or not."

At this, the demon smiled as well and nodded, then bent down for a tender kiss; afterwards, the couple sat down for breakfast, Willow changing the topic from Warren and his return to a more pleasant one by asking her girlfriend if she had any other plans for the day, the conversation which spun from that quickly distracting her from her worries and the danger she and all her friends might be in.


	8. Chapter 8

The first thing Willow did after arriving at campus and meeting Buffy there was going to the campus cafeteria with the Slayer and buying a large coffee there; by now, the waking up in the middle of the night and the lack of sleep were taking its toll on her, and she doubted that she'd be able to sit during the five classes of the day without the help of large doses of caffeine.

"I'm glad the dreams seem to have stopped now, though", she told Buffy after the Slayer had inquired about her lack of sleep and she had confirmed it, "I don't think I would have had another nightmare, I probably would've slumbered all through the night if those guys hadn't come to our place."

"So the spell helped?" the Slayer wanted to know in reply, smiling again as she thought of the side effects that spell had had, momentarily glad that she hadn't been there when it had been cast – being the Slayer had made her more or less insensitive to bad smells, but that didn't mean that she didn't mind them.

"Either that, or Warren's spell stopped working once I knew about it", Willow shrugged in reply, taking a large gulp of her coffee afterwards and letting out a small, delighted sigh.

"Some spells are designed like that", she then continued, "to stop working once the one it has been cast on becomes aware of it. Mostly the easier ones, for the beginners, you know, which would make sense, because he's never been big on magic when he was… still alive."

"Yup, makes sense", Buffy agreed, giving her best friend a calming smile afterwards, clearly seeing how uncomfortable saying those last few words had made her and thus successfully attempting to change the topic when she spoke on. "Now that you got your caffeine fix, we better get to class or we'll be late, and you know how that ogre who holds it reacts to that…"

"Yeah", the witch giggled in reply, "we don't want to receive the ogre's glare of death."

"Or the lecture about how being punctual is a virtue", Buffy grimaced, smiling when she made her best friend laugh again at those words; after a moment, the Slayer joined the laughter, both girls still giggling as they entered the class and took their seats, the punctuality-keen ogre arriving and starting with the lecture a few minutes later.

* * *

><p>After the last class had ended, not even the caffeine and sugar of a large mocha would have been enough to make the witch feel less tired; while she made her way to the campus gate with Buffy by her side, she wondered out loud if Pat would actually be willing to carry her home, making the blonde next to her laugh.<p>

"Bet she'd do it if you'd ask her", she then smirked, Willow nodding after a moment, smiling as well before she looked around, trying to spot her girlfriend and, to her dismay, failing.

"Well, to ask her, she'd have to be here first", she finally gave up in trying to find the taller woman, frowning as she checked her watch and saw that the class had ended just at the right time and not a few minutes early.

"Maybe the bus is late again", Buffy guesses in reply, the witch nodding while she dug through her bag until she found her cell phone and flipped it open.

"Or maybe she messed up with the schedule", she stated while she quickly dialled her girlfriend's number, then held the phone to her ear, "let's hope she didn't forget to bring her phone."

Nodding, Buffy kept looking around for the demon while Willow listened to the steady beeping which showed her the line was free; just when she was about to give up and hang up, a click came through the speaker, but when the familiar voice spoke up, her blood ran cold and her knees were turned into pudding, suddenly making it hard for her to remain upright. Noticing all the colour draining from her friend's face, Buffy gave her a concerned look, the witch not even noticing though as she clutched the phone tightly, her heart hammering up to her throat.

"Hello, hello, Willow", Warren repeated the previous greeting, and she could practically hear the nasty smile on his face, "still with me? You didn't faint, didcha? That'd be disappointing, your girl's holding out so bravely. Didn't even make her scream yet."

"Don't you dare to hurt her", the witch pressed out in reply, all her fear gone within the blink of an eye, replaced by that familiar, deep-seated rage she had felt back then, when she… The feeling of Buffy grabbing her free hand distracted her from her anger, and she looked at the Slayer; the concern on the blonde's face helped her to calm down again, and she nodded when Buffy mouthed "Warren?" at her.

"Too late", said man now chuckled, "but as I said, I guess I'm not doing all too well, she hasn't screamed yet. Maybe she will until you come to join us."

"What do you want?" Willow demanded to know in reply, even though she already knew what he wanted, the only answers she still needed being where and when.

"You, of course", Warren now replied, sounding belittling, feeding her rage further and making it flare up brightly again until Buffy squeezed her hand calmingly. "Where you killed me, I'm sure you remember", the man continued, causing Willow to close her eyes briefly, "in, oh, let's say, two hours? That fine for you? Oh, and if you bring the Slayer or any of your other annoying friends with you, your girl dies. See you in two hours!"

He laughed his hysterical, high-pitched laugh, then hung up without giving the witch a chance to say anything; feeling numb, Willow slowly put the phone back into her bag, then looked at the Slayer, her voice trembling when she spoke up. "He wants me to meet him where I killed him… he's got Pat…"

"It'll be alright", Buffy at once reassured her, giving her hand another calming squeeze, "we'll all go there, and—"

"No!" Willow cut her off, sharper than she had intended, something she realized when she saw the startled expression on her best friend's face. "No", she repeated, in a slightly calmer voice, "he said if I'd bring anyone along, he'd kill her…"

"If you go alone, he'll try to kill you!" Buffy pointed out in reply, not sure if she should be relieved or shocked at the dark look Willow gave her in reply.

"He might try to do that", she then stated, "but I guess I'll have to kill him first then, right? It's not like I didn't do it before."

"This is just what he wants you to do", Buffy tried to reason with her, "what if you won't even get the chance to do anything? Think about it, Will, he obviously managed to capture Pat, and she's a demon. He must have some tricks up his sleeve you're not aware of, or he never would have been able to do that!"

"What should I do then?" the witch demanded to know after thinking about this for a moment, "I can't just… not go there! Who knows what he'll do to her if I don't show up!"

"You will go there", Buffy promised in reply, "but not alone. Can't you put some spell on us so Warren won't know we're there, too, or something?"

"I can try", Willow agreed after a second, "but we gotta do this now then, he told me to be there in two hours…"

"Let's go to the Magic Box right now then", Buffy said, tightening her hold on the redhead's hand and leading her towards the bus station, "and see who wants to come along, then we'll do that spell and then, we can all kick Warren's butt. Everything will be fine, alright?"

"I hope you're right", Willow mumbled in reply, holding back the urge to just break free of Buffy's hold and start running to the store afoot; again and again, she kept thinking of Warren's words, about how he hadn't been able to make her loved one scream yet, her blood running cold again as she thought about the things he might be doing to her in this very moment.

"It'll be fine", the Slayer now spoke up next to her, clearly reading her dark thoughts off her face, "no matter what he did to her, she'll be able to heal it, right? And I'll make him pay for every moment of pain he gave her, I promise."

"Unless he pokes out her other eye", the redhead muttered, shuddering at this dark thought; in reply, Buffy just squeezed her hand once more, then both of them fell silent as the bus arrived and they got on it, the witch staring out of the window during the whole ride, hoping and praying that Buffy was right and that everything would be fine.

* * *

><p>Once they had arrived at the store, Willow quickly gathered everything she needed for the spell to hide Buffy and whoever else would come along from Warren while the Slayer explained the situation; once she had finished, Xander and Giles both agreed to join them, Anya promising that she'd take care of Dawn while they'd be gone, the teenager looking clearly troubled about the situation.<p>

"Kick his butt for me, too", she told her sister while Willow prepared the spell; nodding, Buffy briefly patted the taller girl's arm, reassuring her that everything would be fine, then moved to the table along with Giles and Xander when the witch asked them to.

"This spell won't make you invisible to him", she explained, "or to anyone else. It'll just limit the noise you're inevitably going to make in the forest, so he won't hear, and block your… well, I guess your magical signature or something similar, in case he put up spells alerting him to anyone's presence, so they'll only react to me."

"We'll stay behind a few feet then", Buffy gave back, "but we won't let you out of our eyes. That okay?"

"That should work out, yes", Willow agreed, taking in a deep breath before she asked them all to close their eyes; after they had done so, she performed the spell, to her relief managing to do it flawlessly despite her highly agitated state.

"Alright", she mumbled as soon as she had uttered the last work and had seen the light blue glow which indicated success surround her friends, "that's it…"

"Let's get some weapons", Buffy smiled, briefly wondering if she was supposed to feel any different now, "and then we'll go and kick Warren's butt."

"And kick it well", Xander added, rising from his seat, prompting the rest to do the same; together, they made their way to the training room at the back of the store, picking up weapons there, making sure to take the kind which easily could be hidden beneath their jackets.

"Alright", Buffy stated as they left the shop together once they had finished arming themselves, "Willow, you take the lead. Xander, Giles, we'll follow her, but we'll have to keep a distance. No matter what we find there, I want you all to remain calm, alright? That goes especially for you, Willow, no black hair and no black eyes, _no matter what_. Okay?"

"I'll try", the witch sighed in reply, not sure if she'd be able to try hard enough though; the mere thought of finding her loved one seriously hurt was enough to make anger fill her, and she had no idea how she might react if she'd actually see her girlfriend like that.

To her relief though, Buffy seemed satisfied by her response, since she nodded after a moment; briefly, she touched the witch's arm and gave her a reassuring look, then Willow set off, the rest following her after waiting a minute, exchanging worried glances as they wondered what they might find in the woods – and how Willow would react to it.


	9. Chapter 9

When they had arrived at the woods where Willow had killed Warren years ago, she at first had been worried that she might not be able to find the exact spot where it had happened again; after entering the woods though, it became clear to her pretty quick that she would, her heartbeat once more speeding up at the sounds echoing through the forest.

"Bastard", she heard Buffy mutter behind her, nodding her agreement without looking at the Slayer; she briefly stopped walking to tell them to stay behind, then hurried on, following the screams, her heart performing a daring summersault in her chest every time another one of them sounded through the woods.

Holding back the urge to look over her shoulder to make sure her friends were still there since she couldn't hear them, she sped up her steps, telling herself that the fact she couldn't hear her friends behind her only meant that the spell was working fine; it didn't take long until she reached the small clearing where she had killed Warren, her heart skipping another beat at the sight which was presented to her.

She still remembered clearly the position Warren had been in when she had killed him, strung up between two trees; it seemed that he remembered just as well, since he had done the same to Pat, standing in front of her with a bloodied knife in hand, turning to look at Willow when he heard her arrive.

"Why, there you are", he smiled, "and right on time. As you might have noticed, I did succeed with making her scream, wouldn't have thought so."

"Let her go", the redhead pressed out in reply, her gaze flickering back and forth between him and her girlfriend; it was obvious that he had busied himself with beating her before he had switched to the knife, but the wounds Willow could see didn't appear too serious, to her great relief.

"I'm here now", she went on, glaring at Warren again, momentarily taken aback by how normal and healthy he looked, as if he never had died, "so let her go."

"Not yet", Warren replied with a smile, wiping his knife clean on his shirt before he tugged it back into the sheathe on his belt, then dug into his pocket, the redhead's eyes widening when he brought out a bullet and held it up so she could see it.

"Remember what you did to me with one of those?" he asked, the bullet rising from his hand effortlessly and floating towards the equally horrified looking Pat – Willow had never told her what exactly she had done to Warren with such a bullet, but it was clear that she could imagine several things, judging from the look on her face.

"No, don't!" the witch cried out as she watched the bullet make its way to her girlfriend, "please! She has nothing to do with any of this, if you want to do that, do it to me!"

In response, Warren just let out his high-pitched laugh, then all at once narrowed his eyes as he focused on the bullet; a second later, it started spinning, then began drilling into the demon's stomach agonizingly slow, making her let out a low, clearly held-back groan between gritted teeth.

"Oh, putting on the macho routine again, huh", Warren chuckled, smirking at the witch afterwards. "Now that you're here, she doesn't wanna shout no more."

"Stop it!" Willow snapped in response, briefly wondering how long this was already going on and where her friends were, "and let her go! You wanted me, you got me, stop hurting her!"

"Willow, no", Pat brought out between clenched teeth, "get away…!"

"So brave", Warren sighed in reply, "but all that bravery's for nothing as long as you're strung up between two trees, right?"

"Lucky for her, she's got brave friends, as well", Buffy's voice came from behind him, making him jump; clearly surprised, he twirled around to stare at her – and at the crossbow she was aiming at him – before his gaze flickered to Willow, anger in his voice when he snapped at her. "I told you to come alone or she dies! You wanna get rid of her so badly?"

"As if we'd let her face you alone", Xander commented before Willow could say anything, smiling pleasantly while he raised the weapon he had brought along. "Now, you wanna stop your little trick with the spinning bullet here, or do we need to convince you?"

"Oh, I'll stop", Warren snarled, then suddenly started smiling again, a sight none of them liked very much – before he moved with surprising speed, grabbing the startled Willow around the waist and mumbling a few words, the two of them vanishing into nothingness with an audible popping sound seconds later.

"No!" Pat cried out while the bullet stopped drilling itself into her flesh and fell to the ground; shocked, all the others could do was stare at the spot Willow had been in seconds ago, then Buffy at least regained enough of her sense to hurry to the demon's side and untie her, Xander coming up moments later and grabbing the taller woman when it looked as if she would slump down to her knees any moment.

"You better demon out and heal that", Buffy suggested, looking at the cuts and bruises with worry; most of them had stopped bleeding by now, but blood was still seeping from the hole the bullet had left, the wound looking deeper than the thankfully shallow cuts Warren had made with his knife.

"While I do, figure out how to find out where he took Willow", Pat mumbled, thanking Xander for grabbing her before she forced herself to stand upright and to take a few steps away from them; even though they had seen her demon out often by now, the others couldn't help themselves, but just had to watch as she did so, the group moving away from her a bit when they felt the heat of her flames.

"Alright", she stated two minutes later, after the wounds had been healed and she had returned to her more human self, "and now you make me happy by telling me how to find Willow, before that maniac does God knows what to her."

"Well", Giles was the one to speak up first, taking off his glasses and starting to clean them, "the spell he used to teleport out of here with her was rather advanced, but if I'm not mistaken, it's one which leaves what the coven in England calls a magical trail, about a mile wide. So, if we manage to track that down, we should be able to figure out where he took her, I suggest we get back to the shop and I'll get the coven on the line to see if they can help me work something out."

"Sounds like a plan", Pat agreed, then ran both hands through her hair nervously; and once more, Buffy was the one who gave the much needed reassurance, stepping up to the demon and placing a comforting hand on her arm, quietly reassuring her that they'd find Willow and that everything would be alright.

* * *

><p>Being teleported already wasn't pleasant when one could prepare for it, but having it done to her so unexpectedly had rather nasty side effects on the redhead; the moment Warren let go of her after the spell had ended and they had reached their destination, she slumped to her knees and puked violently, dimly registering that she had been taken to some kind of cave, the man's footsteps moving away from her while she tried to regain her composure.<p>

"Surprised?" he asked her as he vanished around a corner, leaving her alone in the middle of the rather large cave, his voice echoing through it as he continued, "I learned several quite nice tricks where I was after you killed me. Sorry it upset your tummy."

He laughed, the sound of his laughter getting on her nerves more and more every time she heard it; shakily, she came to her feet again, grimacing when her stomach turned once more, but luckily, she at least didn't need to vomit again this time.

"Where are we?" she demanded to know, giving her best to sound confident and strong; he laughed again in reply, then a unsettling sound followed his laughter, hurried, somehow shuffling footsteps, eerily reminding her of her dream.

"In a friend's place", Warren now called out to her, causing her to turn on the spot as she tried to figure out where he had gone.

"You know", he continued, "most people would call the place you sent to me when you killed me quite… uncomfortable. And hot."

"Hell?" Willow guessed in reply, not surprised when he laughed again, gritting her teeth at the annoying sound.

"Ding ding ding!" he then said, "a hundred points for the lil witch. Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I kinda hated it there too at first, but when you pissed off the Devil, he suddenly was really nice to me, and decided to send me back here so I can take my revenge on you, which also will serve as his revenge. Convenient, huh?"

"And I see he taught you some new tricks, too", Willow mumbled, looking around once more as she tried to figure out where he had gone, flinching when the weird footsteps came up again, much closer to her this time – and not sounding as if they were coming from Warren.

"That he did", the psychotic man now agreed, "that teleportation spell, a pretty cool binding spell I used on your girl so she wouldn't gimme any trouble, and of course some other nice ones which I won't tell you about right now. Also, he gave me several… let's call 'em contacts… around here, professionals who gladly will help me with my job here. Wanna know more about them?"

_He's trying to keep you listening, _the witch realized all at once, startled, _to distract you, so you won't pay attention on what's going on around you… _

As if those thoughts had set something off, the footsteps now were awfully close behind her; gasping, she twirled around, just in time to see a strangely misshapen shadow rush past her, followed by sharp pain as the creature raked a sharp nail through the fabric of her blouse and over her skin, drawing blood.

With another gasp, Willow stumbled a few steps backwards, her hand coming up to cover the long gash; then, all feeling went out of her legs and she slumped to the ground, terror filling her as she realized that the numbness quickly spread, leaving her unable to move a muscle.

"This is one of the professionals I told you about", Warren's voice came again, followed by another irritating chuckle. "It's a demon", he continued, "called Gnarl. I thought his help would be very fitting, seeing that he feeds on the skin and blood of his victims."

All Willow could do was let out a groan in reply while the demon Warren had just introduced appeared in front of her again, moving into a crouch over her and tearing her blouse open with ease, clicking his absurdly long, sharp nails together as he stared at her stomach.

"Of course it won't be over fast", Warren added, coming out of the shadows and standing next to her, "that would ruin all the fun for me, wouldn't it? Nope, no such luck, lil witch… My friend here will take his time."

He laughed again while the demon gave her a sickening smile, showing alarmingly pointed teeth – before he ran one of his nails over her stomach, tearing off a strip of skin and putting it into his mouth with obvious delight, Willow only able to let out a few helpless whimpers, fear gripping her heart as she could just lie there and let it happen, her heart racing in her chest while she asked herself if her friends would find out where she'd been taken and would come to her rescue in time.

Author's Note: Yep, I borrowed the Gnarl from the show for Warren's scheme, that demon was just too cool (albeit, gross) to ignore fully. Just like anything else that's not an original character, it sprang from the brilliant mind of Joss Whedon *bows to him* and not from mine. :)


	10. Chapter 10

Normally, Anya reprimanded Pat when she wanted to smoke in the shop and wouldn't let her, but this time, the ex-demon didn't have the heart – and didn't dare – to tell her to go outside; while Giles was on the phone with the coven, a book in hand while the receiver was penned between his shoulder and ear, the demon thus kept pacing up and down, nervously smoking one cigarette after the other, Anya merely opening the windows without comment so the smoke wouldn't spread all through the shop.

"Yes, I see", Giles mumbled into the receiver, making Pat stop her pacing so she could look at him, "I will do that, thank you very much. Yes, yes, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for your help."

"So?" the black haired woman demanded to know before he even had put the receiver down, moving over to him with surprising speed, "what did they say?"

"It can be done", Giles reassured her in reply, "but we'll have to be careful, or Warren might notice. The magical trail he left when he did the spell is connected to him, so if we make the smallest mistake, he'll feel our spell and will probably know what we're up to."

"We'll have to be extra-careful then", Xander stated the obvious, moving over to the Watcher and the demon as well, "so the surprise will be on our side. As in, hey Warren, surprise, there's an axe buried in your crazy skull!"

"I like that surprise", Pat commented dryly, finishing her cigarette and putting it out by throwing it into the small bowl filled with water Anya had provided for her, "and I agree on the being careful part, but that won't mean we'll also be slower, right? I don't want to leave her in the hands of this maniac longer than necessary, who knows what he's doing to her right now."

"He'll take his time", Buffy mumbled as an answer, making everyone look at her, an expression of deep worry on her face as she held their gaze and went on. "I don't think he… wants this to be over quickly. So whatever he's doing to her, he'll try to make it last."

"If that was supposed to calm me down, it did not work", Pat dryly gave back, lighting up yet another cigarette; Buffy just sighed in reply, then got up from her seat and moved over to the small group as well, looking at her Watcher sincerely.

"Do that spell, now", she almost commanded, something which usually made Giles give her an unhappy look and sometimes reprimand her, but this time, he merely nodded before he turned to Anya, rattling off a short list of ingredients he'd need to perform the spell. For once, the ex-demon didn't even mention how much they would cost, but simply provided them, nodding her agreement when Giles asked her if she'd help; for a moment, Pat wondered if she should offer her help as well, since according to Willow, she was naturally inclined to magic, then figured that it wasn't necessary as Giles grasped Anya's hand and told her to focus on Willow as hard as she could without even looking at her, starting to mumble under his breath a moment later.

While he did so, he threw the ingredients the ex-demon had readied for him into the bowl she had provided as well, his brow furrowing in concentration as he finished the spell; it had been a while since he had done such powerful magic, a task they usually left to the much more talented Willow, and for a moment, he was afraid that he messed up when nothing seemed to happen – before the contents of the bowl vanished with an audible _whoomp, _dissolving into a cloud of nothingness, a vision of surprising clarity appearing in front of the Watcher's eyes a second later.

The gasp Anya let out made it clear to him that she had seen the same thing; it lasted for another ten seconds, then vanished into nothingness, the ex-demon jerking her hand away the moment it was gone and running both hands through her hair, her agitated state clearly upsetting Pat, the taller woman rushing over to her and grabbing her shoulders.

"What?" she snapped at the startled Anya, "what happened? Do you know where she is?"

"In a cave", Giles was the one to respond, making Pat's gaze jump to him within the blink of an eye, "a big one… We have to be quick. Buffy, get some weapons, sharp ones, now. Anya, do you know what…?"

"Gnarl", the ex-demon replied, still visibly shaken up as well, the fact that they both avoided to give her any details only agitating Pat further. "You know how to kill it?"

"Yeah", Anya immediately replied, "the eyes, they're the weak point, but we have to be careful, his nails…"

"What about them?" Pat snapped, at least wanting to get some information; with her gaze serious and still rather troubled, the ex-demon looked at her, gulping as she spoke on, clearly afraid of how the taller woman might react to her words.

"He uses them to paralyze his victims", she still said, not sure if she should continue, shrinking in her seat when the demon took in an audible, heavy breath, her voice sounding strained when she replied, as if she was close to falling apart – or to freaking out and maybe run amok. "And then what?"

"He eats their skin", Anya still made herself say, feeling like jumping up and running away when Pat gnashed her teeth so violently in reply that it was clearly audible; obviously seeing how close the demon was to freaking out, Buffy rushed over to her and grabbed her at the shoulders, making her turn around and look at her.

"There are only a few caves big enough to hide such a creature", she hurriedly stated, giving her best to hide how freaked out she was herself about Anya's words, "and I know where they are. We'll go there now, kill this thing and get her out of there, but I need you to be at least halfway calm for that, it won't help if you just rush in there blindly and get yourself killed. Do you understand me?"

For a few moments, Pat just held her gaze, looking as if she just might push her away – or even punch her – and rush off on her own; then, she slowly nodded, making the Slayer nod as well before she gave the taller woman's shoulders a reassuring squeeze, her voice low as she spoke on. "Good. Let's get the big sharp weapons then and get Willow out."

She knew that her next question would only upset the demon again, but also was perfectly aware of the fact that she had to ask; thus, she turned to Anya, successfully keeping the tremble out of her voice when she asked. "Anya, this demon… Is he fast?"

"No", Anya replied at once, luckily getting what Buffy was aiming for, "if he's not stopped, it can take hours… He moves fast though. And you better stay away from his nails."

"I'll rip them out one by one", Pat growled in reply, the sound of her voice once more making it clear how close to going over the edge she was; hurriedly, before they would waste any more time, Buffy rushed into the training room in reply, gathering several weapons there – among them the demon's favourite, large battle axe – and equipping her friends with them, Anya once more agreeing to stay behind to watch Dawn, her expression troubled as she watched her friends hurry off, shifting on her seat as she hoped that they would be there in time to get Willow out before she ended up too badly hurt.

* * *

><p>Even though the demon's nails had paralyzed her completely, leaving her unable to move an inch and do more than just mumble almost incoherently, Willow could still feel the white-hot pain when Gnarl carefully peeled off another strip of her skin and stuffed it into his mouth, tears slowly rolling down her cheeks when he afterwards bent down to lap up the blood which was seeping from the fresh wound. By now, her stomach felt as if it had been drenched in lighter fluid and set on fire; the fact that Warren kept taunting her about her situation didn't make it easier, either, and she wished that she'd just be able to turn her head so she could look at the cave's entrance, could will her friends and her loved one to appear there and get her out of here.<p>

"Remember what you said to me before you killed me?" Warren now asked, bending over her so she was forced to look at his maniacally grinning face, not even able to turn away from the repulsive sight.

"You said 'Bored now'", he answered his own question, lowering himself into a crouch next to her and running his hand down her cheek, a touch so unwelcome and disgusting that it would have made her shiver, had she been able to move.

"So, I was wondering", he went on, his hand moving to her hair and caressing her almost tenderly – before he grasped a fistful of it, causing her to let out a helpless whimper as he jerked her head up roughly, so close to his face that she could feel his warm breath on her cheeks, "are you bored _now_, lil witch? Want some more entertainment? Or is my friend here enough for you?"

"You know", a familiar voice came from the cave's entrance, sounding like the voice of an angel to Willow, "your choice of friends already was questionable when you hung out with Jonathan and Andrew. But now? Big no no there."

Clearly startled, Warren came to his feet and twirled around, finding himself looking at Buffy and several of her friends; the Slayer appeared surprisingly calm, but the taller woman he quickly identified as Willow's girlfriend, the one he had tortured, looked so horrified that he actually was surprised she wasn't fainting on the spot.

"Gnarl is a good friend", the demon still crouching over Willow now snarled, in a voice that sounded so inhumane that it made them all shiver. "Gnarl takes care of the eeeevil witch… So evil and tasty…"

As if this had set something within Pat off, she suddenly let out a low growl, Warren noticing with dismay that her good eye flashed up red; he just had another second to register that all the wounds he had inflicted on her while he had tortured her in the woods were gone, then she was rushing at him, the absurdly large battle axe she was armed with held high over her head, obviously intended to split him in two.

When he had done the teleportation spell for the first time and had taken Willow here, he had been sure that they wouldn't be found until his business with her would be finished; in case someone should be able to track them down though, he had been planning to just teleport out with her again, something he forgot about the moment though he saw how big and sharp exactly that axe was. Leaving the witch where she was, he hurriedly mumbled the spell to himself, finishing it just as Pat reached him and the axe started to come down; instead of hitting him right in the face and splitting him all the way down to the groin, it clanged against the stone floor and produced several sparks as he vanished, causing the demon to let out a frustrated growl.

"Asshole!" she then grumbled, tightening her grip on the axe – when Gnarl flew at her, shrieking as he raked his nails across her back, a half startled, half pain-filled yelp coming from her in reply while she slumped down, Willow letting out a muffled cry as well at the sight, her heart starting to beat even faster as she realized what might happen in case the demon would manage to get all her friends with his dreadful nails. "Watch out for the nails!" Giles now voiced the witch's thoughts as Gnarl turned away from the black haired woman and rushed at Buffy; skilfully, the Slayer ducked his first swipe at her and returned the favour with her sword, managing to cut the demon's arm and making him shriek in pain while he jumped back, away from her.

To the dismay of the group, the wound closed quite quickly, making it clear that the weak point Anya had mentioned probably was the only way to get rid of this creature; before Buffy could figure out how to get to his eyes without ending up scratched and thus paralyzed herself, a meaty _thunk _suddenly sounded through the cave, followed by Gnarl letting out another shriek as he toppled over, Pat's axe buried deep in his back.

"Guess what", the black haired woman commented dryly, giving the axe's grip a hearty jerk and pulling it out of the demon's back, "your fancy nails don't work on other demons. And you really should consider getting a manicure."

With those words, she bent down and hauled the demon upwards, quickly taking him into a tight hold by moving her arms beneath his arm pits and entwining her fingers behind his neck, keeping him from slumping back down and from getting away.

"The eyes!" she snapped at the stunned Buffy, "quickly!" Clearly not happy with his situation, and finding it hard to believe that his poison didn't work on that obnoxious woman, Gnarl reached back with his absurdly long arms, raking all of his nails across her back; clenching her teeth, Pat let out a pained groan, didn't let go of him though, not even when he kept tearing at her back, sending sharp pain through her.

"Hurry up!" Giles snapped at the sight, "before he tears her apart!" This got Buffy to move at last, and with two fast steps, she was right in front of Gnarl; for a moment, she hesitated, then brought up both hands and dug her thumbs into the demon's eyes, a sight which made Pat grimace, the fact that Gnarl let out a high-pitched shriek not helping to make it any less disgusting.

"Ew", Xander commented the moment the demon had slumped over and had died noisily, "thumbs? Ew Buffy, ew, gross!"

"Well, it worked", the Slayer gave back, grimacing as well though while she looked for something to clean herself; wordlessly, Giles handed her a handkerchief while, without bothering to waste another look at the dead demon, Pat dropped the axe and hurried to Willow's side, dropping to her knees next to her, her own pain forgotten when she saw the wounds the demon had inflicted on her loved one.

"God", she brought out after a moment, this clearly showing how upset she was since, as a demon, she usually avoided that special word, "Sweetie… Poor you…"

"I'll be fine", Willow made herself say, still finding it hard to speak, but feeling that the paralysis slowly was wearing off, clearly connected to Gnarl's death, "they're superficial…"

"Can you move again?" Buffy asked a moment later, having hurried to her best friend's side as well; nodding, Willow tried to sit up in reply, only to slump back down when sharp pain welled up in her stomach again.

"You can, but you won't", Pat decided at the sight, skilfully ignoring her own injuries when she gathered the groaning redhead into her arms and lifted her, briefly gritting her teeth as she felt blood trickle down her back at the movement.

"Are you sure you're up to this?" Buffy carefully asked, pointedly looking at the drops of blood which were dripping to the ground and forming small puddles around the demon's boots; setting her jaw, Pat just nodded in reply, then set off without another word, the rest following her after a moment of silence.


	11. Chapter 11

Many thanks to BedHead for the kind review, I'm glad you're enjoying the story :) Here we go with yet another chapter, then, I hope you'll like it and the ones still to follow, as well :)

* * *

><p>Somehow, to the surprise of everyone, Pat did manage to carry Willow all the way back to the Magic Box, where Anya and Dawn where waiting; once there, the demon carefully lowered her girlfriend on one of the softer mats in the training room, then heavily sat down on the ground next to her, grimacing once more as the movement made her feel the gashes Gnarl had inflicted on her again.<p>

"Alright", Buffy stated while Giles hurried off to get the first aid kit and Dawn, clearly upset by the state of both Willow and Pat, started fussing over the demon, to her obvious annoyance, "why don't you demon out and heal that now?"

"Yeah", the black haired woman agreed after a moment, didn't move though; knowing that she had to stand to demon out, Buffy looked at her curiously, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips when after half a minute, the taller woman looked at her almost grudgingly, clearly not liking to admit what she said next. "Would you mind helping me up? I'm kinda… in pain here."

With a nod and a smirk, the Slayer grasped her friend's hand and pulled her to her feet, then stepped back; by now, all the members of the Scoobie gang were used enough to Pat's demonic form that it didn't startle them anymore when they saw it, Giles merely giving her a brief glance as he returned with the first aid kit.

"Why didn't you demon out earlier?" Xander asked while the wounds were healing with audible fleshy noises, making Pat shrug as her glowing red gaze focused on him, something which didn't freak him out anymore by now though, the young man simply holding her gaze and giving her a questioning look in reply.

"Would have taken too long", the demon rumbled as an answer, her voice as always when she was in that form down to a low growl, the sound making Willow smile despite her pain, "I wanted to get her out of there as fast as possible, before Mr Psychopath might decide to come back or something."

"Smart thinking", Giles commented while he removed a small bottle of disinfectant from the first aid kit, briefly studying it to make sure it was still useable before he opened it, warning Willow that this would hurt while he poured some of it on a cotton dabber. Behind him, Pat finished healing and returned to her human form; the moment this process was done, she moved up to Giles, placing her hand on his shoulder and stopping him from beginning his work on the redhead's wounds, her voice low, but serious when she spoke up. "I'll do that, if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course, sure", the Watcher agreed, straightening up and handing the dabber to her; she accepted it, along with the bottle of disinfectant, then looked at the others, still sounding awfully serious when she spoke on. "Leave, please, I can handle this on my own."

For a moment, Dawn looked as if she might protest; then, Buffy took her arm and nodded, leading her out of the training room seconds later, the others following her after throwing a few last worried glances at Willow, the witch smiling at them reassuringly until the door closed behind them.

"I'm glad you'll do this", she then mumbled while Pat lowered herself into a crouch next to her, her gaze darkening again as she looked at the wounds; then, she looked at her girlfriend's still rather pale face and gave her a reassuring smile, putting the disinfectant aside so she could reach out and caress her cheek tenderly.

"Giles was right", she then stated, her voice still low, but much friendlier now, "this will hurt, but I'll try to make it quick. Okay?"

"Okay", the redhead agreed, then bravely grit her teeth as Pat lowered the soaked cotton dabber on one of the scratches; she hissed in pain the moment the disinfectant touched the wound and it started to burn horribly. Not for the first time, she briefly wondered if she just shouldn't ask Pat to do the spell which would let her borrow her healing abilities; then, she told herself that, even though those wounds were painful, they were nowhere near dangerous enough to justify that, also reminding herself of the fact that her girlfriend had been hurt even worse and that the spell would make those wounds open up again.

Thus, she just grit her teeth and forced herself to hold still while Pat cleaned the wounds as fast as she dared, despite her speed making sure she'd clean them properly; even though she gave her best to work quickly, it still seemed to take forever until she finally got done, giving the redhead a concerned glance as by now, Willow was breathing heavily, beads of sweat having formed on her brow and slowly rolling down into her hair.

"There, there", Pat mumbled soothingly, hurriedly putting the disinfectant and the bloodied cotton dabber aside so she tenderly could caress her girlfriend's hair, trying to take some of her pain away, "I'm almost done, the painful part is over…"

"I know", Willow mumbled, closing her eyes when the demon's hand moved from her hair to her cheek, caressing her tenderly, a small sigh escaping her at the gentle touch. "And I'm glad about that", she added after a moment, forcing herself to open her eyes again so she could look at her girlfriend; smiling slightly, Pat nodded her agreement, then bent down to kiss her tenderly, sounding concerned when she spoke up after pulling back. "Do you think you can sit up already, or do you wanna lie down a little longer? I need to bandage that up, and that'll be hard as long as long as you're lying on your back."

"Give me another minute", the redhead said in reply, making her girlfriend nod; smiling calmingly at her, Pat moved her hand to caress her hair again, doing so until Willow finally told her that she was ready now to have the bandage put on, something the demon gladly did as soon as she had helped her to sit up, then helped her to her feet the rejoin the rest of the group in the store's main room.

* * *

><p>"Aaaand she walks again", Xander announced with absurd pride in his voice the moment he saw Willow step through the door of the training room, making the witch give him a smile; clearly still worried, Buffy got up from her seat and moved to her side, both Pat and her helping her to one of the chairs afterwards so she could sit down.<p>

"Are you sure you're up to being on your feet already?" the Slayer asked while, wordlessly, Giles pushed the pack of pain killers he had readied closer to the redhead, making her give him a thankful look while she grabbed the pack and opened it, removing one of the pills from it and gulping it down with a sip from the glass of water Anya had provided for her.

"I'll be fine", she then answered her best friend's question, "it still hurts, a lot, but I don't wanna lie around on that training mat for hours."

"Makes sense", Buffy had to admit, giving her friend another worried glance before she looked at the others, her voice back to the business-tone when she spoke on. "Is there anything we need to talk about after this? If not, Xander, could you drive Willow home?"

"Sure", the young man agreed at once, smiling at the blonde; Buffy smiled back briefly, then looked at Giles questioningly, making him clear his throat before he answered her unspoken question.

"I think that right now, there is not much we can talk about", he then stated, to the obvious relief of Willow – even though the pain killer was kicking in by now, her tummy still felt as if it had been set on fire, and she couldn't wait to lie down and relax.

"What about Warren?" Anya wanted to know in reply, looking at the Watcher curiously, "shouldn't we figure out how to find him so he can't capture Willow again?"

"We will", the elder man replied, "but not right now. After doing two teleportation spells in such a short span of time, he'll be exhausted, the most skilled warlocks and witches would be. So, while he recovers, we'll give Willow a chance to do the same, and then find a way to beat him."

"Sounds good to me", Pat said before anyone else could reply; after a moment, Buffy nodded as well, her agreement prompting Xander to get up from his seat and to flash a bright smile at the redhead.

"Off we go then", he stated, gesturing at the door leading out of the shop with exaggeration, "your carriage awaits, my lady!"

Despite her still rather sharp pain, Willow giggled and nodded; clearly willing to play along, Pat did a just as exaggerated bow next to her, then offered her arm, making the redhead giggle again while she accepted it and let the demon help her to her feet. Once she stood, Pat moved her arm around her waist to steady her; the way the witch was swaying slightly on her feet despite that support made Buffy give her a worried glance again, the Slayer not saying anything though, merely watching how the three of them left the store before she turned towards Giles again, sounding worried when she spoke up. "Are you sure about this? Warren being too drained to do anything now, I mean?"

"Not fully", Giles had to admit in reply, clearing his throat again when Buffy gave him an incredulous look, "but even if he still has some power left for the day, I sincerely doubt he'll try to attack again so shortly after his first plan failed."

"I hope you're right", the Slayer mumbled in reply, throwing a worried look at the door, even though Xander, Willow and Pat had already gotten into the young man's car and couldn't be seen anymore, "because if not, well…"

"I'm sure things will be fine", Giles tried to calm her down in reply, briefly reflecting about the strange way their roles had been swapped – normally, Buffy was the carefree one who was always sure that everything would be fine, and he was the one who worried about possible dangers lurking around the corners and in the shadows.

"Willow may be hurt", he continued, eager to calm the clearly agitated Slayer down a bit, "but she'll still be able to do her magic, should it be necessary. Also, Pat's with her, and after what Warren already did to Willow, I doubt she'll have any troubles with burning him to a crisp the moment he shows himself."

"If she gets the chance", Buffy sighed, making the Watcher frown, "he did manage to capture her before, right?"

"I'm sure Willow will know how to deal with this", Giles replied after a second, reaching out and placing a calming hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Things will be fine", he told her once more, glad when after a moment, she nodded at last; he gave her another reassuring smile, then got up from his seat and moved to one of the shelves, pulling a book out at random and idly leaving through it while Buffy looked out at the street once more, hoping that he had been right and that nothing would happen to her friends.

* * *

><p>"Alright", Pat stated as soon as Willow and she had entered their apartment, "now you'll lie down, either on the bed or on the couch, and won't move again unless it's absolutely necessary. Which means, going to the bathroom or, in case you choose the couch, going to bed. Anything else, I'll handle."<p>

"Yes, Mom", the witch mocked in reply, giggling when Pat raised an eyebrow at her; shaking her head, but not making a comment, the demon then led her girlfriend to the couch and waited until she had laid down before she asked if she needed anything.

"Yup", Willow gave back, opening her arms afterwards, "a certain demon right here with me, to cuddle with me."

"Wait, I'll go call Clem then", Pat smirked, chuckling when the redhead let out a huff and crossed her arms over her chest; moments later, her pout vanished though as the demon moved to lie down next to her and carefully took her into her arms, a content sigh escaping her as she made herself comfortable.

"You know", she then mumbled, "it was really lucky that the nails of that gross demon didn't work on you. Who knows what would have happened if they had…"

"Something bad", Pat grimaced in reply, "but let's not think about that, okay? Luckily, everything worked out just fine… Well, almost, seeing that you got hurt…"

"And taking into consideration the fact that Warren is still out there, and equipped with some powerful magic", Willow reminded her, "that teleportation spell he did to get me into that cave was very advanced, I'm not even sure I could do that, especially not twice on the same day. I once did a similar spell on Glory, you know, that ditzy Hellgod Buffy was fighting a while ago, and I had a massive nosebleed and headaches for days."

"Let's hope Warren's having a juicy migraine right now then", Pat gave back acidly, making the redhead smile slightly – even though they had been together for quite some time by now, it still touched her how vengeful her girlfriend became whenever someone did something to her.

"He might have one", she smiled after a moment, having to admit that she liked the thought; then, she frowned as another idea came to her mind, her voice thoughtful when she spoke on. "Maybe I can do something to keep him from teleporting away again the next time he decides to show up."

"The vine thing?" Pat guessed in reply, surprised when Willow shook her head, then frowning when the redhead spoke up again. "No… Remember that spell I did on Amy back then, to keep her from using her mojo on Buffy and you?"

"Yes", the demon immediately replied, "the one which gave you a massive nosebleed."

"It did", Willow had to admit, briefly dismayed about the fact that her girlfriend remembered that unpleasant detail, "but it was fine in the end, right? And it would keep him from teleporting away again so, you can split his skull with that axe you like so much."

"Which is an appealing thought", Pat grumbled, "but the nosebleed isn't. I'm not sure I like that idea, Sweetie…"

"I know you don't", Willow smiled, craning her neck so she could kiss the demon before she had a chance to reply, "but it might be the only way to keep him from vanishing again… Or from using that binding spell again he used to kidnap you."

"Oh, _that_", Pat snorted contemptuously, "such a cowardly thing to do."

"Well, he wouldn't have stood a chance if he hadn't done that", the redhead shrugged, "so I kinda understand why he'd use it. I don't like the thought of him doing it again though, so…"

"And I don't like the thought of you doing a spell which gives you nosebleeds", Pat replied, "but, yeah, you might be the right, it might be the only way to make defeating him possible, with all that fancy new tricks he learned in Hell."

"I'll talk to Giles about it", Willow decided, glad that her loved one had more or less agreed to her idea, "let's see what he'll say, maybe he'll have another, less nosebleed-inducing idea."

"I hope so", Pat sighed out in reply, then asked the redhead if she wanted another painkiller or if the one she had taken was enough; after a moment, Willow decided that taking a second one couldn't hurt, telling her girlfriend this and smiling slightly when in reply, the demon carefully pulled back from the embrace and got up from the couch. Before she could leave for the bathroom though, Willow stopped her by grabbing her shirt, making her turn and look down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Gimme a kiss before you go?" the redhead smiled, batting her eyelashes; chuckling, the demon nodded, then bent down to fulfil that demand before she made her way to the bathroom to get the painkiller while Willow made herself comfortable on the couch again, closing her eyes as she waited for her girlfriend to come back, not even noticing how she drifted off into a light sleep a minute later.


	12. Chapter 12

When the doorbell tore her out of her sleep, Willow had no idea how long she had been slumbering; dazed, she opened her eyes and blinked, just in time to see how Pat got up from her seat in the armchair next to the couch and moved out of the living room, the sound of the door opening following her footsteps a few moments later.

"Hi", Willow heard her greet whoever had come to their place another second afterwards, raising her eyebrows at the surprised sound of her voice; when their visitor spoke up, she knew why her girlfriend had been surprised, her eyebrows wandering upwards at the unexpected voice.

"Um, hi there. Can I come in? Please don't hurt me?" she heard Jonathan mumble, sounding as if once more, he was close to peeing himself, making Willow smile briefly as she pondered the effect her girlfriend had on people like him; then, Pat told him that he indeed could come in, not commenting on the not hurting him part though as she led him into the living room, the redhead sitting up on the couch when she saw him enter.

"Hi Jonathan", she greeted him, the small man awkwardly raising a hand in reply and giving her a little wave; then, he just stood there while Pat moved to sit next to her girlfriend, giving him an expecting look.

"So", she then started when he didn't say anything, "what do you want?"

"Um", Jonathan gave back, shuffling his feet and even scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "well… I wanted to warn you, Warren came to me after his first plan didn't work so well…"

"And told you what he'll do next?" Willow demanded to know, raising an eyebrow while in the back of her mind, the uncomfortable feeling that something was a bit off here was coming up; clearing his throat, Jonathan shook his head, his hand dropping back down while he shuffled his feet once more.

"No", he then mumbled, now staring at his feet, "he yelled at me for a while because it didn't work and then he just kept saying that he's not done yet…"

"And you came here to tell us this why?" Pat almost snapped, irritated, Willow giving her a brief glance before she looked at Jonathan again, the feeling that something wasn't quite right here was growing stronger. "That's not exactly surprising, you know. Psychopaths like him never stop until they either are killed or got what they want."

"I guess so", Jonathan gave back, shuffling his feet again, his hands moving nervously, playing with the hem of his shirt, then with his belt, his gaze never leaving the carpeted floor.

"But, well, I thought I'd tell you", he added, finally looking up again and focusing on Willow; just minutes ago, she would have thought that the sole reason for this was the fact that he was awfully afraid of Pat, but now, it only made the feeling that something was wrong increase.

"I wanted to be useful", he went on, "after all the trouble I caused when I was in that gang with Warren and Andrew…"

"Well, that wasn't exactly useful", Pat commented in reply, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a glare, once more giving Willow a reason to briefly reflect on how well she still could glare, despite having lost one eye; then, it suddenly came to her what exactly felt wrong about this whole situation, her eyes going wide as the realization hit her.

"Well…" Jonathan started, shuffling his feet once more; before he could go on though, Willow spoke up, her voice all at once cold while she glared at him as well. "How did you know where we live? We never told you."

At hearing those words, Pat's head whipped around, her good eye going wide as she stared at her girlfriend; then, she saw Jonathan move, his hand grabbing at his belt and pulling out the knife he had hidden there while he launched himself forward, raising the weapon with the clear intent to bury it in the redhead's body.

As always when she found herself in such a situation, the demon let her instincts take over without thinking about it; two centuries of being an assassin had sharpened them to an almost uncanny height, and Jonathan just had a second to be surprised at how fast she was moving before she had tackled him and they both ended up on the floor, the taller woman grasping the wrist of his knife-holding hand and giving it a sharp twist, causing him to cry out while the weapon dropped out of his suddenly numbing fingers.

Now moving quickly as well despite her still aching wounds, Willow almost jumped up from the couch and grabbed the knife; while she did so, Pat used her grip on Jonathan's wrist to twist his arm up behind his back, then grabbed him at the collar with her free hand and jerked him to his feet, ramming him face-first against the closest wall and making him yelp in pain.

"Alright", she then snarled into his ear, smoke starting to curl from her fists and making him cough, "you were afraid of me before, without a real reason, but if you don't start talking in a second and tell me why you tried to kill my girlfriend, I'll give you several good reasons to be afraid of me. Starting with bursting into flames while I'm still holding you."

"I'm sorry!" Jonathan wailed in reply, squeezing his eyes shut when the demon's grip on him tightened, "I had no choice! He said he'd kill me if I wouldn't help him!"

"So, now I might kill you", the black haired woman grumbled in reply; behind her, Willow put the knife on the living room table, then moved up to her girlfriend, briefly making Jonathan hope that she would stop this – until he saw the expression in her eyes, a mixture of contempt and anger, his heart sinking as he realized that she wouldn't help him.

"I knew it wouldn't work", he still tried to explain himself, rolling his eyes so he could look at the witch, "really, I knew you'd either do a spell or she'd protect you! I had to!"

"Did you also know what I'm gonna do to you?" Pat snarled as an answer, making him whimper when she gave his arm a rough jerk, "that I'll burn you to a crisp within seconds? That what you want?"

"No, no please", Jonathan pleaded in reply, squeezing his eyes shut when he was thumped against the wall once more, then forcing them back open so he could look at Willow, sounding as if he was close to tears when he went on. "Please stop her! Don't let her kill me, I know you're not like that, stop her!"

"I'm not like what?" Willow asked pleasantly in reply, giving her girlfriend a brief look before she spoke on. "Not like a killer? You seem to forget I've killed before, even though, according to you, that very guy who sent you here."

She gave him another sweet smile, then looked at her girlfriend again, her next words causing Jonathan's eyes to widen, his breath getting caught in his throat while his heart performed a painful summersault in his chest. "Burn him."

* * *

><p>"No no no no please!" Jonathan cried out when Pat let go of his collar, still keeping his wrist in a tight grip, and he heard her now free hand flame up, "I'll tell you everything I know and everything you wanna know, I swear, I promise, I'm sorry, just don't hurt me, I'll tell you where Warren is hiding and everything else I know!"<p>

"So pathetic", Pat almost sighed out in reply, to his surprise letting go of him moments later; with his eyes squeezed shut, he remained where he was though, pressing himself against the wall as if he wanted to merge with it, flinching when the demon sighed again, and squealing when someone tapped his shoulder.

"It's okay", he then heard Willow speak up, now sounding much kinder again, "nobody will burn you. Come on, and turn around and look at us."

Even though every fibre in his body screamed that this was exactly what he shouldn't do, Jonathan turned to look at the couple after a few moments; he was relieved to see that the flames had vanished, the fact that she still was looking rather pissed though making him a bit uneasy again though.

"You know, you could have spared yourself that scare if you had told us that you know where Warren is hiding right away", the redhead now pointed out, making him scratch the back of his head again, his gaze dropping down to the ground again, his voice down to a low mumble when he replied. "He said he'd kill me if I told you anything… He told me to come here and kill you, and threatened me with some horrible things! I nearly wet myself!"

"Again?" Pat acidly asked in reply. "You should consider wearing diapers."

"Tell us where he's hiding", Willow demanded before Jonathan could say anything about that suggestion, "and then get out of here. I suggest that you leave not just our place, but Sunnydale as well, Warren might be after you now that you failed to kill me… Which was a ridiculous attempt, if I might say so."

"I know", Jonathan sighed in reply, "and you're right, I should go…"

"But first you tell us where your friend is hiding", Pat reminded him, making him look at her again with obvious fear; he nodded, then cleared his throat and shuffled his feet before he answered, his gaze focusing on the carpet between his feet again.

"He's staying in the house where his parents used to live", he then mumbled, "he said you wouldn't look for him there, it'd be hiding in plain sight."

"Kinda", Pat muttered, then took a step closer to Jonathan, holding back the urge to sigh again when immediately, he cowered.

"You know", she went on, giving him another nasty look, "I have been an assassin for two hundred years, give or take. If we go to that house and find out that you lied to us, I will hunt you down and kill you, and this time, no one will stop me."

"I didn't lie!" Jonathan squealed in reply, again looking as if his bladder was dangerously close to emptying itself without his consent; Pat just gave him another glare in reply, prompting him to let out one more squeal before he turned around abruptly and hurried to the front door, nearly stumbling on his way out.

Shaking her head, Pat watched him go, once more annoyed by how pathetic he was; then, she turned to look at her girlfriend, and all her annoyance about Jonathan was forgotten the moment she saw how pale the witch had become.

Without even bothering to say anything, she took a quick step closer to Willow and put an arm around her waist to steady her; giving her a thankful glance, the redhead let her girlfriend lead her back to the couch and laid down again there, a low groan escaping her as she did so.

"Alright", she mumbled once she had made herself comfortable again and the pain in her stomach had dulled to the low throbbing she had been dealing with before Jonathan's attack on her, "next time, I'll handle such things lying down."

"Or you'll let me handle them", Pat suggested in reply, crouching down next to the couch so she could caress her girlfriend's hair, the tender touch making Willow smile slightly despite her pain; shaking her head, she momentarily leaned into the touch, then forced herself to focus again as she replied. "You probably would have killed him for real. I'm glad you read my silent signals correctly though and didn't think I meant it when I told you to burn him."

"Hey, we've been together for years now", the demon smirked in reply, "I'm getting good at reading your signals. Even though I have to admit it was tempting to just ignore them and kill him anyway, I mean, he did try to do the same to you."

"Oh please", Willow dismissed the clumsy attempt to kill her, "he wouldn't be able to kill a fly. I'm surprised he dared to try it at all, seeing how frightened he was of you already before you threatened to barbecue him."

"Yeah, murderer is a career which clearly is not for him", Pat mumbled in reply, shaking her head once more; then, she briefly kissed the witch before she let her know she'd get her that painkiller now, making her nod with a slight smile on her face, her mind and heart at ease as she watched her girlfriend go, knowing that now, they had the information they needed to find Warren and send him back to where he had come from.


	13. Chapter 13

Once the painkiller had started working and Willow felt that she could sit up again, she asked Pat to bring her the phone, then called Buffy to tell her about what had happened; the Slayer snorted when she heard about Jonathan trying to kill Willow, clearly not taking the attempt very serious either, and expressed her joy when the redhead told her that now, they knew about Warren's hideout.

"I feel like going there right now so I can kick his ass", the blonde told her best friend once Willow had finished her little tale, "but I guess you wouldn't like that, and neither would Pat, so I better wait."

"Yeah, Pat would be pissed if you'd do that without her", Willow smiled, causing the demon to give her a questioning look, making her gesture that she'd tell her later and earning a nod in reply before she focused on the phone again.

"We shouldn't wait too long though", she added, "before Jonathan decides to drop in on his old buddy and tell him what happened."

"Seeing how terrified he is of your short-tempered girlfriend, I doubt he'll dare to", Buffy thought out loud in reply, "but you're right, we better don't take any chances. Are you up to going there tomorrow? We might need some spells to defeat him, do you think you could do it?"

"Yeah", the witch gave back immediately, "as long as you keep him from punching me in the stomach or something."

To her amusement, Pat's eyebrows shot up almost all the way to her hairline at hearing those words; she gave the black haired woman a calming smile, then agreed when Buffy asked her if she should pick them up in the next morning.

"See you tomorrow then", the Slayer smiled at her end of the line, "and tell Pat to bring her favourite weapon, we'll probably need to use them."

"Will do", Willow promised, then wished her best friend a nice evening before she hung up; the moment she had put the phone on the table, Pat was crouching next to her again, giving her a worried look.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she demanded to know, the concern in her voice touching the redhead; smiling, she nodded, reaching out to grasp her girlfriend's hand, giving her best to sound soothing when she replied. "Yes, I am, and as I told Buffy, we shouldn't lose too much time. I know Jonathan's been scared out of his mind when he left here, but he's a weasel, so…"

"You're right about that", Pat sighed out in reply, "but I don't like the thought anyway. Won't it be enough if just Buffy and me go there?"

"No", the redhead immediately declined, to the demon's obvious dismay, "I'll need to do that spell which blocks his magic, so he won't be able to teleport away again the moment things get hairy for him."

"Yeah, that spell which gives you massive nosebleeds", Pat grumbled in reply, digging out her pack of cigarettes and lighting one of them up; to Willow's relief, she didn't try to talk her out of it though, but merely let out a sigh before she gave her another dismayed look, sounding stern when she continued. "At least promise me you'll stay in the background then. I'm not planning to let Warren past me, but you never know."

"Of course I'll stay behind you", Willow reassured her in reply, squeezing her hand tenderly, "I'll count on you to protect me, seeing you're the big, evil, fiery demon and I'm just a petite human."

To her relief, this worked just the way she had wanted it to, namely making the demon laugh; afterwards, Pat shook her head, an amused glint in her good eye when she looked at her girlfriend again. "Yeah, petite and oh so fragile, and a very powerful witch."

"Not after I did that spell", the redhead corrected her, "then, I'll be all drained and I'll need some rest. You know I can't do it in advance, I'll have to cast it right after we arrived there and the moment I see him… I just hope he won't notice what's going on and teleport away before I can get done."

"Oh, that won't happen", Pat reassured her in reply, the amused glint now changing to one Willow knew well, a sparkle she often had seen already, usually before some big fight. "I think I already know how we'll keep him from doing that…"

* * *

><p>When Buffy arrived at the couple's apartment early in the next morning, she already could smell the coffee and ham and eggs on the hallway, making her stomach rumble audibly and giving her a moment to regret that she hadn't eaten breakfast; then, she figured that Willow surely would have made enough food to let her have some as well, a smile appearing on her face at that pleasant thought.<p>

Still smiling, she rang the doorbell; it didn't take long until footsteps came up behind the wood, then the door opened and she found herself face to chest with a disgruntled looking Pat, the demon only letting out a low grumble in reply while she stepped aside to let the Slayer in.

"Good morning to you, too", Buffy greeted as she entered and took off her boots and jacket; then, she made her way into the kitchen with the taller woman, finding Willow at the oven, not standing though, but sitting on one of the barstools which normally stood at the kitchen counter.

"Hey, Buffy!" the witch greeted cheerfully, being the exact opposite of her grouchy girlfriend; she took another glance at the ham and eggs, then smiled at the Slayer again, sparing her the embarrassment of having to ask her if she could have some too by offering it a moment later. "The food's almost done, you want some too? I think I made too much again…"

"That'd be great", Buffy thankfully replied, making the redhead smile back at her; then, the Slayer's gaze moved to Pat, the corners of her mouth twitching again as she watched the demon clutch to her coffee cup and take sips of it every now and then, not appearing as if the caffeine was helping yet though.

Clearly not bothered by her girlfriend's behaviour, Willow moved the pan to one of the cold burners, then apportioned the food on three plates she had readied; when she put Buffy's down in front of her, the blonde's stomach rumbled audibly again, prompting both Pat and Willow to give her a look, her only answer being a blush.

"I hope you figured out that you'd get some food here, and didn't just plan to fight Warren on an empty stomach", Willow scolded, smiling again when immediately, Buffy nodded; then, she picked up her fork and started shovelling food into her mouth, Pat doing the same a moment later, appearing a bit more lively once her plate had been cleaned. Getting up from her seat, she made her way to the window and opened it, then lit up one of her cigarettes, smoking in silence and watching how Buffy and Willow finished their food as well. "Can I dare to talk to you now, Pat, or will you just grumble at me again?"

"You can talk", the demon replied, surprisingly coherent after the grunts she just had been capable of when Buffy had arrived; smiling, the Slayer nodded, then asked her what weapons she was planning to take along, raising an eyebrow at the reply. "One of my axes, of course… And a crossbow."

" A crossbow", Buffy echoed, giving her another curious look, "you think that axe won't be enough? You wield it pretty well."

"Thanks", Pat smirked in reply, "and I plan to wield it so that it will end up stuck in his crazy head, but the crossbow is to keep him occupied until Willow did her spell."

"You got a plan already then, I see", the Slayer smiled, leaning back into her chair and making herself comfortable, "enlighten me then, and spill."

Smirking, Willow did just that; while she listened to the plan, Buffy started to smile after a while as well, nodding her agreement once she had been told everything and telling the couple that she was sure it would work, both Willow and Pat just smiling as well in reply, all three of them confident that things would work out just fine.

* * *

><p>Once they arrived at the house, Willow checked it for any protection spells, satisfied when she found none; she told this to the others, then looked at her girlfriend, her voice low as she spoke on. "You'll go in first, as we said, so… please be careful. Buffy and me will be right behind you, but it'll probably be you he'll focus on, seeing you'll be attacking him."<p>

"I'll be careful", Pat promised her in reply, "don't worry, it'll work out just fine. Just make sure you'll stay in the background once you did the spell."

"I will", Willow promised, then stood on the tips of her toes to steal a brief kiss from the black haired woman; afterwards, Pat grabbed the crossbow she had brought, adjusting the axe strapped to her back, making sure it wouldn't get in her way, then she loaded the crossbow with one of the bolts she had brought, putting several more into her belt for easy access.

"I wish I had a bolt belt", she then mused out loud, "like a cartridge belt, only for bolts."

"Wouldn't that be impractical?" Buffy wanted to know in reply, making the demon shrug before she smirked at the Slayer, her next words making Willow smile as well while the blonde rolled her eyes. "Maybe, but it'd also look cool."

"Better make sure you look menacing now", Buffy advised as an answer, "so Warren will be focusing on you, and won't even notice Willow and me until it's too late."

"Oh, I can do that", Pat reassured her, her good eye starting to glow brightly red seconds later. "Too bad I can't flame up, that'd be even more menacing, but then I'd burn the bolts", she added regretfully; then, she clearly shrugged it off, since she checked the crossbow once more, then started moving over to the front door, Buffy and Willow watching her in silence, knowing that they had to give her a minute so she could distract Warren properly.

Once Pat had reached the front door, she stopped for a moment; then, she made both Willow and Buffy jump by kicking in the front door, hard enough to make it bang against the wall.

"Cheap lock", she commented, then entered the house; outside, Buffy and Willow strained their ears, the witch flinching again when she heard shouting moments later, quickly recognizing the voice as Warren's.

"And in we go", Buffy decided next to her, making her nod; together, they hurried into the house as well, finding Pat and Warren in the living room, the young man clumsily trying to duck behind the couch while the demon fired another bolt of him, grumbling when it got stuck in the wall above Warren's head with an audible _thump_.

"Dammit", the demon cursed, quickly reloading and aiming at the couch this time; the crossbow was powerful enough to send the bolt through the backrest, Warren letting out a ridiculously high-pitched squeal when the sharp tip hit through the fabric mere centimetres next to his ear. Cowering against the couch, he racked his brain as he tried to come up with a spell which might stop that crazy woman; then, he heard a familiar, deeply hated voice start to mumble, his eyes going wide when he recognized the spell.

Eager to stop it, he jumped to his feet without thinking about it for a second; his gaze briefly fell on Willow, then the red glint of Pat's eye caught his attention again, and he looked at her just in time to see that she was aiming at him again, the sight making him curse as he dropped behind the couch again, just in time to avoid the bolt she fired seconds later.

Frantically, he tried to come up with a plan to stop the spell before it'd take effect, without any success though; he knew that he had to look at the witch to stop her, but also was aware of the fact that, the moment he'd show as much as a lock of hair, the redhead's girlfriend would shoot at him again, and even with his newly acquired magic skills, a bolt in the brain would be deadly.

Clenching his fists, he tried to figure out what to do; then, the spell took effect and he cried out in both frustration and pain as he felt his magic drain away, momentarily gritting his teeth and feeling like curling up and just lying there – before anger filled him again, coupled with the desire to make the damned witch pay for this, along with the other horrible things she had done to him, snarling her name as he came to his feet again.


	14. Chapter 14

Pat had been planning to shoot at Warren again the moment he'd get up behind the couch; when he did so, she found herself unable to do so though, only capable of standing there and staring, her stomach performing several daring turns as she fought to keep her breakfast down. The strangled noise Willow let out behind her showed her that her reaction was similar; even Buffy gasped, and that had to mean something, considering all the gruesome things she had faced in her life so far.

"Not liking the sight, I see", Warren snarled, the clear upset state of the three women giving him some of his courage back, even with his magic gone; without even fully noticing it, Pat lowered the crossbow in reply, unable to look away from the gruesome sight which was presented to her and the other two.

"Oh Goddess", she heard Willow whimper behind her, the sound distracting her from the horrible sight; laughing, Warren focused on the redhead again, his voice full of jeer when he went on. "What is it, Willow? Unable to stand seeing me like that? That is strange, you are the one who did this to me, after all."

With those words, he raised his arm and studied his hand, the raw flesh, muscle and sinews which were exposed to the world; the rest of his body looked similar, all the skin gone, wet patches forming on his clothes where his body touched them.

"Maybe I should undress", he went on, smiling at the witch, "so you can look at the whole picture. What do you think?"

"She's not into naked guys", Pat finally regained her ability to speak, bringing the crossbow up again; the moment she pulled the trigger though, Warren ducked behind the couch again, to her obvious dismay.

"You goddamn coward!" she cursed, deciding that she'd had enough of this and dropping the crossbow; a quick shrug was enough to make the axe slide down one shoulder and arm, into her waiting hands, and with a snarl, she rushed forwards, vaulting over the couch with no troubles and making Warren squeal again the moment his eyes fell on her weapon. With more luck than actual skill, he managed to roll aside at the last minute, the axe getting buried in the carpet, the sight prompting Pat to let out another harsh curse.

Clearly deciding that he wasn't in the state to fight, Warren hurriedly came to his feet; he saw how Pat yanked the axe out of the carpet and grabbed the first object he could reach, glad when it turned out to be the small table his mother always had insisted on having next to the fireplace, quickly hurling it at her and forcing her to focus on ducking, the table flying past her and hitting the wall where it shattered, showering her with wooden splinters. Grumbling to herself, the demon straightened up again, her axe ready; she lowered it again though when she saw that Warren was gone, a gentle breeze blowing through the open window he had used to escape.

"Coward", she repeated to herself, then turned to look at her girlfriend; moments later, she dropped the axe when she saw how pale Willow had gone and the blood which was dripping from her nostrils, Buffy having both arms around the redhead and keeping her upright. Her plans to go after Warren and stop him forgotten, she hurried over to her girlfriend, this time going around the couch though instead of just jumping over it; the moment she had reached Willow, she took her into her arms, then picked her up, carrying her over to said couch and carefully placing her on it, crouching next to it and taking a tender hold of her hand afterwards.

"Buffy, can you get her some water?" the demon asked, without looking at the Slayer, "and maybe some washcloth too, to stop the nosebleed…"

"Sure", the blonde agreed, hurrying away to look for the kitchen; it didn't take long until she found it, the sound of running water echoing through the house a short time later.

"I guess no one of us expected the spell to have such an effect", Pat mumbled while she waited for Buffy to come back, finding a hanky in her pocket and using it to wipe off some of the blood; momentarily, Willow was tempted to shake her head, then decided against it, seeing that the world was still spinning around her.

"Not really", she thus mumbled instead, smiling weakly when Pat threw the bloodied handkerchief on the ground, then started caressing her hair tenderly with her now free hand, "and it didn't even help, it freaked us all out, but he still got away."

"Well, it was hard to not freak out, at that sight", the demon pointed out in reply, shaking her head, "that was just gross. So he was keeping his skin on himself by magic, or what?"

"I don't think so", the witch gave back after thinking about it for a moment, "I think it wasn't there at all… It was just a glamour, and when I cast my spell, that glamour ended."

Her own words made her think of how it had felt when Warren had touched her, back in the cave, and all at once, anger filled her as she realized that she already should have figured that particular detail out back then.

"Dammit", she thus mumbled, prompting her girlfriend to give her a surprised and curious look; she let out a sigh in reply, then explained herself, sounding miffed at her own mistake. "Back in the cave, with that Gnarl demon, Warren touched me once… And it felt so weird and disgusting. Now I know why, but I should have realized that back then already."

"Well, you were in a rather unpleasant situation back then", Pat pointed out in reply, "so I guess it's understandable you didn't notice."

"Didn't notice what?" Buffy wanted to know as she came back into the living room; quickly, Willow explained while she carefully sat up to drink the water the Slayer had brought, pressing the wet, cold washcloth against the back of her neck with her other hand, hoping it'd help to stop the nosebleed.

"I guess you had other things on your mind back then", Buffy agreed with Pat once the witch had finished telling her, "but at least now, we know, so it won't freak us out again the next time we go up against him. I hope."

"Me too", the demon agreed, grimacing at the memory, "that really was gross. I'd prefer it if we don't have to see it again, but I guess that's not an option…"

"Not if we want to stop him from teleporting away the moment things get too dangerous for him", Willow sighed, clearly dismayed at the thought; giving her a calming smile, Pat grasped her hand in reply and gave it a reassuring squeeze, the redhead smiling back after a moment, telling herself that at least now, they knew what they'd have to face the next time they'd go up against Warren and that soon, everything would be alright.

* * *

><p>Once Willow had recovered enough, the three of them left the house and made their way back to the couple's apartment; from there, Buffy called Giles to inform about the result of their little raid, the Watcher reacting with surprise when she told him about the glamour Warren had cast on himself and what had happened when Willow's spell had removed it.<p>

"Well", he then stated, Buffy almost able to hear how he took off his glasses and began to clean them, "this most certainly means that he was not sent back as a human, so once Willow recovered, a locator spell should show us where he is now."

"That's one positive thing about all of this", Buffy sighed in reply, "but it'd be nice to stop him from teleporting without making that glamour fade. We were all pretty freaked out."

"I imagine", Giles showed some sympathy, "I'll see if I can find some way to modify that spell."

"Thanks", the Slayer smiled, glad that her Watcher had said exactly what she had wanted him to say; he told her it was no problem, then asked her to be careful before he said goodbye and hung up, the blonde doing the same a moment later.

"What did he say?" Willow wanted to know the moment Buffy had put the phone down; smiling at her, the Slayer moved over to the couch and sat down next to her best friend, taking the time to thank Pat when the demon handed her a cooled can of soda and to take a long sip of it before she replied.

"He'll try to find out if the spell can be modified, so it'll only block Warren's abilities to teleport away", she explained, another sip from her soda following before she went on. "That'll keep us from having to look at his skinless body, and I guess the spell should also be less tiring for you then…"

"Probably", the witch agreed, "and I hope Giles figures out how to do that… That was the initial plan when I came up with that spell, remember? Instead, it just blocked all the magic of Amy and now, of Warren as well."

"Maybe he should try to modify it so that the only thing it doesn't block is the glamour", Pat suggested after thinking about this for a moment, "because if you only keep him from teleporting, he can still use that binding spell with which he managed to capture me, and that'd be… well, kinda bad."

"Such spells only work on one person at a time though", the redhead pointed out, clearly not calming her girlfriend down very much though, something which became obvious when the demon raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, that still means he could use it on Buffy, or me", she then pointed out, "which wouldn't be all too good either, right?"

"You're right", the Slayer agreed after a moment, running one hand through her hair as she pondered those unpleasant facts, "but even if he does manage to use that spell on you or me, there'll still be one of us left to kick his butt, not to mention the others, who will probably come along as well."

"Also", Willow spoke up before Pat could reply anything to that rather good point, "if the spell is less draining then, I can keep helping with magic, with the vine for example, or I can try to break his binding spell."

"I see, I stand no chance against the two of you reasoning", Pat smirked after a second, making the witch smile as well; with a mischief glint in her eyes, she nodded, then bent forward to kiss the demon tenderly, Buffy smiling at the sight before she got up from her seat and let the couple know that she'd go to home and get some rest, something she could need after that unexpected and very unpleasant sight of the skinless Warren.

"Let's meet tomorrow at the Magic Box", she suggested while she made her way into the hallway, accompanied by both Willow and Pat, "Giles thinks that Warren's not human anymore, but a demon, seeing that he can be alive without skin, and he said that the locator spell should work in that case."

"Makes sense", Willow agreed, "normally, humans don't live so well with all their skin gone…"

She trailed off, once more thinking about how she had made sure to test this theory by flailing Warren alive; sensing her distress, Buffy reached out and briefly touched her hand, then asked if it'd be okay to meet at the shop at one p.m., smiling again when both Pat and Willow nodded their agreement.

"See you tomorrow then", she smiled as soon as the meeting had been settled, "I'll call the rest to make sure they'll be there as well, in case we'll have to do some research… It shouldn't be necessary, but you know Giles, he almost always finds a reason to hit the books."

"Yeah, he really loves those books", Pat agreed, the Slayer briefly giggling at her not all too enthusiastic tone; she nodded her agreement, then said her goodbye, leaving the apartment a short time later and giving the couple a chance to get some rest as well, something they knew they'd both need if they'd have to face Warren again soon.


	15. Chapter 15

In the next afternoon, the gang met at the Magic Box, Buffy – to the surprise of everyone – even taking Dawn along; when she noticed the curious looks she got for that, she gave her sister a short glance, then explained that she hadn't wanted to leave her at home alone, not as long as Warren was still on the loose and might target people close to Willow – and that Dawn had been quite vocal about wanting to come along, not leaving her much of a choice anyway.

"It's good you took her along", Willow agreed with part of the Slayer's explanation, smiling at Dawn and prompting the teenager to beam back at her, "you're right about Warren, and she can help in case we need to do some research."

"Speaking about Warren", Giles brought the topic to the reason for the meeting, "I looked up the spell you used, Willow, and it seems that it can be modified. It will still be rather draining for you to cast it, but less than the version you've been using yesterday."

"Good to know", the redhead gave back, leaning forward to look at the piece of paper Giles was holding out to her, the spell modification written on it, and briefly wincing at the pain this brought up in the cuts on her stomach; Pat gave her a worried look at the sound, said nothing though while Willow accepted the paper and read through it, leaning back into her seat comfortably to do so.

"This looks good", she stated a minute later, looking at the Watcher again, "and from what I can tell, it should work just the way we want it to."

"So we won't get to see skinless Warren?" Xander demanded to know, making Buffy, Willow and Pat all raise an eyebrow at him, their expressions prompting him to raise his hands and quickly justify himself. "Well, I didn't mean to say I _wanted_ to see that, I wanted to express my relief about this, but you all did that eyebrow thing at me before I could."

"Believe me, you really don't want to see it", Buffy let him know in reply, making both the witch and the demon nod heartily, "it was really gross. And that means something, coming from me."

"I wouldn't mind seeing it", Anya shrugged, not really surprising anybody, "I've seen and done much worse things when I was a demon."

"Yes, Sweetie, we know", Xander smiled at her, his girlfriend beaming back at him; then, Giles cleared his throat and gained the attention of everyone again, even though he was focused solely on Willow once more.

"I hope you're feeling better", he started, "and that you're not too drained from yesterday's magic anymore, because I'd like you to do that locator spell, so we'd know where Warren currently is hiding."

"Sure", the redhead agreed, to the Watcher's obvious relief, "the locator spell isn't that draining, I can do that without troubles."

"Very good", Giles smiled, getting up from his seat a second later, "I already readied the ingredients you'll need, so we can start right now."

"Why am I not surprised?" Willow smirked, the Watcher at least having the decency to clear his throat before he hurried to one of the shelves, grabbing the bowl and the map of Sunnydale he had readied there.

"You better check the ingredients once more", he suggested while he put the bowl and the map down in front of the witch, "I should have gotten them right, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Nodding her agreement to this, the redhead checked the ingredients once more, then let Giles know that he had gotten them all right; she took in a deep breath, then asked the others to move back a bit, well aware of the fact that, when her emotions weren't fully stable, her spells sometimes didn't work out exactly the way they were intended to.

Since her friends were just as aware of that as she was, they did as she had asked them, moving away from the table; before doing so, Pat took the time to kiss her quickly and tenderly, then mumble a quick reassurance into her ear before she stepped back as well, watching how the witch took in another deep breath while she focused on the spell she'd cast in a few seconds.

After another moment to make sure she was fully concentrated, Willow finally started mumbling the chant to herself, her gaze focused on the map; since she had done this spell several times before, it wasn't hard for her to finish it properly despite her still slightly upset state, and a short time later, when she blew the ingredients of the bowl over the map, several glowing dots appeared on it, showing that the spell had worked just the way it had been supposed to.

"Well done", Giles commented while he moved closer to the table again, followed by the others two seconds later; they all looked down on the map, Pat smiling slightly when Buffy pointed out the dot which symbolized her on it.

"Look", the Slayer then added, squinting slightly while she bent closer to the map, "isn't that the cave where we fought that Gnarl demon thing? There's a demon there again."

"Maybe it's Gnarl's corpse?" Xander guessed, not surprised when immediately, Willow shook her head.

"No, can't be", she then let him know, "the spell only locates and shows alive demons. I think that's…"

"…Warren", Pat finished for her, frowning at the glowing dot on the map, sounding thoughtful when she spoke on. "It makes sense that he'd be hiding there, I mean, who of us would have expected that? Going back to where we fought him before, it's just like staying at the house of his parents – hiding in plain sight. I know I did that several times when I was still… working."

"Then we know where to find him", Buffy smirked, giving the glowing dot on the map a look so menacing that one could have thought Warren had appeared right there, "so I say, we go there right now and kick his butt, before he decides to hide out somewhere else."

"I like that plan", Pat agreed, not really surprising anyone with those words; Buffy gave her a smirk in reply, then, without another word, made her way into the training room where the weapons were kept, the demon following her after a moment, accompanied by Xander and Giles, their hearts beating with a mixture of anxiety and excitement as they all wondered if the situation with Warren would be resolved once and for all now.

* * *

><p>Since they had been at the cave just a few days ago, it didn't take the group long to find it again; once it was in sight, Buffy mumbled to the rest that they should be quiet, something which wasn't hard for Pat, but took some concentration from Willow, Giles and Xander.<p>

"He'll be on his guard now", the demon whispered to the others as they snuck towards the cave's entrance, the weak flickering light showing them that Warren was there and was using torches to light up the dark place, "the last time we came here, he was distracted by Gnarl and what that thing was doing to Willow, but I figure that now, he'll expect us."

"Probably", Buffy agreed, keeping her voice low as well; she clutched her sword tighter, then spoke on, telling Willow to stay behind Pat and her and instructing Giles and Xander to keep the witch between them, eager to make sure that she'd be safe from any attacks Warren might have up his sleeves.

Once the two men had nodded their agreement, she moved up to Pat's side, giving the demon a questioning look; as an answer, the taller woman gripped her axe tighter, the Slayer smirking once more before she started to move again, entering the cave half a minute later, Willow close behind her, flanked by Xander and Giles, mumbling the modified spell which would keep Warren from teleporting away once more.

When she had gotten halfway done with it, one of the shadows in the cave moved, and the target of her spell stepped out into the weak light provided by the torches on the walls; now that they had been discovered by him, Pat figured that she might as well light the place up a bit more, her hands bursting into flames moments later, a malicious smile curling her lips simultaneously.

"So you found me", Warren snarled, clearly not all too surprised, "alright then… Let's bring this to an end, shall we?"

A second later, Willow finished her spell behind the Slayer and the demon; briefly, Warren cringed as he once more felt the effects, the modifications Giles had made to the relief of the gang luckily working the way they had been intended to, keeping the glamour which gave the illusion of skin intact and sparing them the sight of his skinless body.

"Ah, I see how it is", Warren snarled once he found himself able to talk again, moving backwards as Buffy and Pat were approaching him, "you don't want me to flash away from here, but don't wanna see what you did, either, huh?"

"Less talking, more killing?" Pat suggested in reply, looking at the Slayer; Buffy nodded her agreement, raising her sword slightly, her eyes going wide moments later though when, with surprising speed, Warren reached to the back of his pants, a gun in his hand moments later.

"Killing's fine for me", he smirked, bringing the gun up and aiming it at the witch; he let out his trademark hysterical laughter, then pulled the trigger, and chaos took over.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: And here we go with the final chapter of this story :) Thanks to all who read and reviewed, I hope you enjoyed my take on Warren gracing the world with his psychotic presence again :)

* * *

><p>During the few seconds after the gunshot, everything happened at once, and later, no one would have been able to describe what exactly had been done when and by whom; the moment Warren fired the gun, Buffy was in front of Willow, moving with uncanny speed, a low sound of pain coming from her when the bullet hit her.<p>

At the same time, Pat's axe flashed up as she let out a surprisingly loud growl and swung it at Warren; before he had the chance to react, the blade connected, slicing through his neck like a warm knife would slice through butter and neatly separating his head from his body. The moment she could be sure that he was dead, Pat dropped the axe, then turned to see if Willow had been hurt; another second later, her good eye went wide when she spotted Buffy on the ground, bleeding from a bullet wound in the chest, the redhead kneeling next to her and frantically talking to her, obviously trying to keep her awake.

Behind them, Giles and Xander stood, appearing to be frozen with shock; ignoring them for now, the demon rushed over to where the Slayer laid and knelt down next to her as well, grasping one of her hands a moment later.

"The spell", she then almost snapped, looking at her girlfriend, "quickly!" For a horrible second, Willow had no idea what she was talking about; then, it came to her, and she nodded, pulling the leather pouch from her pocket and forcing herself to calm down as much as possible while she opened it and tried to remember the exact words of the spell.

"Hold on there", Pat told Buffy in the meantime, making the blonde look at her, her pain clearly showing through her eyes, "Willow will do the spell, you'll be fine…"

The second she fell silent, the redhead did just that and started chanting; waiting for the effect to kick in, Pat grasped Buffy's hand a bit tighter, frowning when, even after the witch had blown on the powder she had taken from the pouch, nothing happened.

"Are you sure this is working?" she demanded to know, briefly looking down on Buffy again before she focused on her girlfriend once more, "I'm not feeling anything…"

"I did it just like during the first time, in the shop", Willow gave back, nervously running one hand through her hair, "I know I did it right…"

"But the last time, it worked immediately", the demon replied, now appearing nervous as well, "it didn't even take a second until—" Her free hand flaming up cut off her own words, and she looked at it in astonishment; then, her eye went wide once more and a chocked sound of pain came from her, her clothes darkening in various spots moments later.

Shocked, Willow realized that her girlfriend had demoned out not all too long ago to heal the wounds Warren and the Gnarl demon had inflicted on her; before she could think about this further though, the demon threw her head back into her neck and let out another groan between teeth gritted so hard that her jaw muscles were clearly visibly beneath the skin.

While the dark stains on her clothing spread, the wound Buffy had taken slowly started to heal, with audible, fleshy and somehow wet noises; half a minute later, the bullet was forced back out as the healing was finished, falling to the stony ground with a small metallic sound, the Slayer letting out a shuddery breath as the pain slowly faded away.

For a few more moments, Pat kept holding her hand, her good eye squeezed shut by now, sweat slowly rolling down her cheeks; then, with another groan, the flames vanished into nothingness and her eye rolled back into her head, a final, low moan coming from her before she slumped backwards and ended up flat on her back, not even hearing it anymore when Willow called out her name in shock.

* * *

><p>To the relief of everyone, it took only half a minute for Pat to come back around; the first thing she saw when she opened her eye was the worried face of her girlfriend, a smile slowly forming on the redhead's face when her gaze met the demon's.<p>

"There you are again", she sighed out, clearly relieved, "I was worried there for a moment…"

"Just for a moment?" Pat gave back, then tried to sit up, only to slump back down to the ground with a low groan, cursing the flaming pain in her back and the fact that she wouldn't be able to heal that for several hours.

"Alright, a bit longer", Willow admitted in reply, concern in her voice again as she watched how once more, the demon tried to sit up and failed miserably, "and right now, you're worrying me again… That bad?"

"That Gnarl demon had really long nails", Pat mumbled as an answer, raising an eyebrow when moments later, Buffy bent over her as well, making her feel like some sort of attraction.

"Thanks", the Slayer stated, grabbing the hand Willow wasn't holding and giving it a rather hearty squeeze, "I guess you saved my life…"

"Payback for the times you saved mine", Pat shrugged it off with a weak smile; the blonde just squeezed her hand in reply once more, then looked up at Xander and Giles, sounding concerned as well when she spoke up. "I doubt Pat'll be able to walk back home, so… Either we carry her, or we wait here while one of us gets a car."

"I'll go get the car", Xander immediately replied, "if we carry a bloodied woman through half of Sunnydale, that might gain unwanted attention. Even here, where people are so good at looking the other way."

"Good point", Buffy admitted, ignoring the fact that they done just that not all too long ago when they had rescued Willow, her gaze moving back to the demon afterwards. "You'll be able to handle it until Xander comes back with the car?"

"Yeah", Pat immediately gave back, to the obvious relief of both Willow and Buffy, "just help me to sit up, lying on my back hurts. A lot."

Nodding, the Slayer carefully moved one arm beneath the demon's shoulders, then moved her into a more or less upright position; together with Willow, she then helped Pat to the nearest wall so the black haired woman could lean against it, a grimace appearing on her face again when the movement caused fresh pain to well up in the cuts on her back.

"If I could, I'd kill that Gnarl thing all over again", she muttered to herself as soon as she sat as comfortably as it was possible for her at the moment; sitting down next to her, Willow gave her another worried glance, then grasped her hand, only to roll her eyes a moment later when her girlfriend dug out her cigarettes and lit one of them up.

"Even when you're in pain, you smoke", she then scolded, not trying to stop her from doing that though, "are you sure this is a smart thing to do? You fainted and you're still bleeding."

"I just fainted because it was very much pain in a very short time span", Pat defended herself in reply, "and the smoking distracts me from said pain, which unfortunately is still there. I'm really not used to that anymore…"

"Let's hope we won't have to do that again anytime soon", Buffy sighed before the witch had a chance to reply anything, looking down on the bloodstains which still told of the wound she had taken, "and I really owe you one for doing this…"

"No you don't", Pat gave back, taking a long drag of her cigarette before she spoke on. "In a few hours, I should be able to heal again, and until then, I'll just have to deal with it… We still have some painkillers at home, right, Sweetie?"

"Yes", Willow confirmed at once, to the demon's obvious relief, "and once we're at home, I can return the favour you did for me after the whole Gnarl thing."

"I'd be looking forward to this more if that favour would've involved kissing and similar, nice things, and not disinfectant and bandages", Pat sighed out in reply, then raised an eyebrow as another thought about this unpleasant prospect hit her. "Plus, do you think it's necessary? I will be able to heal it soon, you know."

"Yeah, but it can get infected until then", Willow pointed out in reply, "and I don't want you to take that unnecessary risk."

"Alright", the demon sighed as an answer, by now knowing that certain expression on Willow's face well enough to know that arguing wouldn't be of any use; the redhead smiled in reply, then bent forward to kiss her girlfriend tenderly, the tender gesture helping the demon to forget her pain for a few blissful moments.

* * *

><p>Almost an hour later, it was practically impossible for Pat to forget the pain in her back; lying facedown on the bed in the apartment she was sharing with Willow, she was gritting her teeth and gripping the pillow with both hands while the witch carefully disinfected the cuts on her back, giving her sympathetic looks every now and then as she worked as quickly as she could without being careless.<p>

"I'm almost done", she mumbled soothingly, moving to the last cut which had to be taken care of; Pat only let out a low mixture of groan and grumble in reply, a relieved sigh coming from her a minute later when the redhead finished her work.

"You know", Willow stated while she put aside the disinfectant, then carefully helped her girlfriend to sit up, "I was kinda surprised at how fast you dealt with Warren after he fired that gun. I didn't even see the axe move properly."

"Yeah, well, I was pretty pissed at him", the demon admitted in reply, leaning forward slightly so the witch could bandage her up properly, "and I hate guns, only cowards use 'em… Plus, for a moment, I thought he'd actually shot you, so…"

"Well, I'm glad you handled it like that", Willow reassured her, smiling at her, "now he's back where he belongs… I just hope he won't pop up again."

"I doubt it", Pat gave back, lying back down again carefully once Willow had finished with the bandaging, "now that he messed up, I doubt he still has many friends down there. I guess it's back to the torture for him, and I can't say that I'm sorry about that."

"Me neither", the redhead mumbled in reply, moving on the bed so she could lie down next to her girlfriend and snuggle up to her, "and I hope you're right, I don't really want to face him again, it's bad enough that he came back from the dead once."

"Agreed", Pat agreed at once, "he made enough trouble this time, we don't need that a second time."

Willow nodded in response, then let out a small sigh as she snuggled closer to her girlfriend, smiling slightly when immediately, the demon started caressing her hair tenderly.

"But even if he came back", the taller woman added after a moment of silence, "I'd just kill him again. Preferably before he'd shoot anyone of us."

"Let's hope it won't be necessary", Willow replied with a grimace, then clearly pushed her dismay about those thoughts aside and changed the topic by asking her girlfriend if she needed anything.

"Nope", Pat gave back, smiling down on her, "just you exactly where you are right now, so don't you dare to move."

"Not planning to", the witch reassured her, craning her neck afterwards so she could kiss her; after the short, but tender kiss, she snuggled up to the taller woman again, a small, content sigh escaping her.

"Let's hope there'll be peace for a while now", she then mumbled, "at least the peace we can get in this town. No more Big Bads for a while, thank you."

Again, Pat agreed with this, then let out a hearty yawn, the stress of the last few days and the reopening of her cuts clearly taking its toll on her; smiling, Willow told her that she'd better get some rest, then just laid next to her and watched her sleep after she had drifted off into dreamland two minutes later, the small smile never fading from her face as she thought about how lucky she was to have the demon by her side and how good it felt to know that once more, everything had been resolved and things were back to normal.

End.


End file.
